The Brothers Vampire
by lilmansmomma2006
Summary: When Bella comes to Forks she's immediately taken with the Cullen's, one more than the others. When she finds out he's already spoken for and Edward shows interest in her she decides to return his interest and forget about the one she cant have.I'm bad at the summery part but loving writing this story and it will have many twists and turns along the way.
1. Chapter 1

Ok People this is my first fan fiction be gentle with me.

Chapter 1

'This sucks,' I thought to myself as I drove the old truck that Charlie had bought me as a homecoming present into the school parking lot. The noisy truck which I had already grown to love was so loud it was causing me unwanted attention already. People were standing around in groups talking and staring as I pulled into an empty spot and shut the truck off quickly.

It was my first day of school in a new town. I'd lived here with my mother and father when I was a baby, but my mother's intense hatred of the rain and snow, mingled with my father's extreme stubbornness and love for the town, caused her to flee with me when I was still young. I'd been back once a year until I just couldn't stand it anymore and for the last few years I made Charlie come visit me. I wasn't necessarily a huge fan of the wet and rainy either.

My mother had wanted to travel with her baseball player husband and I didn't want her to be unhappy. Instead, I decided I'd live with Charlie in the almost constantly rainy and cloudy town of Forks, Washington until I could get away to college. So now here I am being gawked at by a bunch of strangers.

'Just ignore them,' my internal monolog suggested. 'Just keep your eyes straight; ignore them, act like all the attention is beneath you. They'll think you're just to cool to care.' Yeah right, I knew better; a personal catastrophe would happen any minute that would reveal me to be the nerdy klutz I'd been my entire life.

I took a deep breath, exited the truck, and made my way up to the front entrance. As if on cue, the minute I stepped foot into the already crowded hallway my boot caught on something and I fell face first into the floor, my bag and its contents flying everywhere.

"Fantastic!" I mumbled as I turned over and stared at the ceiling for a second.

I could hear the snickers, laughs, and even a couple of hoots and "way to goes". Well, I'd known my first day would be embarrassing and horrible. It had not disappointed.

"Are you ok?" A girl with dark hair and glasses popped into my view.

"Yeah, my feet just decided that they hated me today." I grumbled.

I got up and the girl and three other people helped me retrieve everything and put it back in my bag. A blond boy with a baby face named Mike, a boy with black hair and skin issues named Eric, a shorter girl with wildly curly brown hair named Jessica— who talked a million miles an hour as she picked things up, and the girl with the dark hair and glasses was Angela.

"You're the police chief's daughter, Isabella, right?" Mike asked after introducing himself.

"Bella," I corrected quickly.

After a few minutes of answering questions about where I was from, why I'd moved to Forks and few sarcastic jokes from me, they escorted me into the office to retrieve my schedule and a map of the school. They all took their turns looking over my schedule to see what classes we had together.

Apparently they'd adopted me as their immediate new friend; whoever I had class with next was always there to escort me and to pump me for more information about myself, except for Angela. She was there to show me where class was but she let me keep the conversation at me own pace instead of drilling me. I liked her very much.

I hated all the attention but was thankful I wasn't going to be an immediate outcast. I hated that everyone still stared or scooted closer to hear what my answers where to the endless strings of questions my new friends were throwing my way. I know most everyone listening in just wanted to get some tidbit of information to add to the rumor mill.

Even though I'd been humiliated early on, no one seemed to bring it up and make fun of me, thankfully. Other than that and the constant staring and whispering when I walked past, the school was just as dull and boring as I'd expected a school in Forks to be. I would just have to find some sort of hobby or distraction, so that maybe my self-imposed sentence in this dreary town would fly by a little quicker. Yeah right. This would drag out endlessly, more like it.

I reconsidered that opinion when lunch rolled around. I found several things to occupy my time, or at least my thoughts.

When my newly acquired group of friends led me to the lunch room, I saw them. As I followed Jessica's chattering-self through the lunch line I glanced around just to pick out a place to sit, when a table in the far corner of the cafeteria caught my attention.

There were five of them. They were all so inhumanly beautiful it was a little scary; surely they weren't real. The largest of them was a huge mountain of boy with short dark brown hair, and a cute baby face with dimples that showed when he laughed at something one of the others had said. His baby face was so much better looking than Mike's. Oops, that was rude. I snickered to myself.

Sitting on either side of the mountain were the girls. One was tall with long blond hair and looked like a supermodel; she was by far the most beautiful creature I'd ever laid eyes on. The other was short, tiny actually compared to the others, and pixie like with short dark hair that stuck out wildly in all directions in a popular messy but chic style.

On the other side of the blond sat a boy with copper colored hair that was in a messy style, and an angel's face. He was tall and lean but still visibly muscular. He was gorgeous.

The last of them sat next to the pixie, with his arm across the back of her chair. He was tall and lean, like the copper haired boy he was also visibly muscular, with wavy blond hair to about his shoulders. He looked a little angry, or disturb, or maybe in pain.

They all chitchatted together, picking at their food, but never eating any. They laughed together; well, all except the blond boy. They were all trying so hard and probably thought they were doing a very good job of fitting in.

I laughed to myself, "Who are they kidding?" I got my lunch and sat with my newly self-appointed bff's, and couldn't help but steal little glances at the table of gods.

"They're the Cullen's and the Hale twins." Jessica had caught me looking at them and answered my unspoken question. "They won't talk to you, so don't bother." She sneered.

"Why not, do they not like people or something?" I asked with a smile. I already knew the answer; I just wanted to know what the official towns' folk thought.

"They all live with Dr. Cullen and his wife," she leaned in to me, talking a little quieter, only too happy to dish. "They're really young, and so good looking. Anyway, they adopted the blonde twins Rosalie and Jasper Hale when they were babies. They belonged to Mrs. Cullen's sister, I think, so they are really related. But the other three, Alice, Emmett, and Edward were all just adopted later." She stole a quick look at them like she was trying to make sure they couldn't hear her. "They are such a creepy family." She whispered.

"Why?" I laughed.

"Well, they are all dating." She whispered again with a disgusted look. "Emmett and Rosalie are a couple, and so are Jasper and Alice." She stared at me for a minute, waiting for me to have the same reaction as she did.

'Damn, too bad the blonde had to be taken. But the bronze guy is almost as yummy! No! Bad Bella! You know that could never happen in the first place, why even torture yourself?'

"So?" was all she got out of me with a shrug, "They're all adopted, so they aren't really related, right?" She looked taken back by my reaction. She'd obviously thought that I would find it as distasteful as her. I was happy to disappoint. I was quickly beginning to think Jessica and I weren't going to be friends for long. She was very gossipy, which at the moment was good since she was helping me out, but on a normal basis I'd get fed up quickly. She was also judgmental and I had no doubt that the minute I did something that might put her popularity at stake she'd kick me to the curb in a minute.

"Anyway," She said quickly; getting off the subject, "Got any plans for this weekend yet?" I didn't fail to notice how Mike and Eric leaned a little closer to hear the answer.

"Yeah, Charlie wants to spend some family time together. You know, since I haven't seen him in forever." I quickly made up some plans because I was pretty sure I wouldn't want to do whatever Jessica would suggest; no doubt partying or shopping, both of which were not my thing.

After that, Jessica leaned over and began batting her lashes at Mike, and asking what he was up to this weekend. I stole another glance at the table and I was shocked when my eyes met the bronze haired god's eyes. He was staring at me with such intensity in his look of confusion that I couldn't turn away. It was like he held me locked in his gaze while trying to will something from me. It was a little scary.

Finally they began to get up and make their way out, dumping their untouched food. I was relieved when one of the others touched the boy's shoulder and caused him to break his eye contact with me. Once I was released I quickly turned back to my table and didn't look back.

'Stupid Bella!' I snapped at myself, 'You know better than that!' The warning bell rang and I followed Mike to our next class, Science.

When we walked in my heart skipped a beat. The Bronze haired god was sitting at a lab table near the center of the class. Mike introduced me to the teacher and then took his seat. Now all the seats were taken but the one next to the beautiful boy. I smiled just a little when the teacher told me it was my seat.

I only stumbled once on my way to the chair, earning me more chuckles and snickers, but I quickly recovered and hurried to my seat. He didn't chat me up like everyone else; in fact he ignored me all together. It was a little irritating.

The science teacher handed out slides, microscopes, and instructions. We had until the end of class to identify the phases of mitosis. We had to work together, so now he could not ignore me. Haha!

"Would you like to go first or would you rather I just do it?" his voice was beautiful but bored.

I arched my brow at him, letting my annoyance show on my face. "I can do my share." He looked up at me then, hearing the same dry bored tone in my own voice. He kept staring like he had in the lunch room, but now I was too irritated to be dazzled by it. I did, however, take just a moment to be awed by his caramel colored eyes.

When his stare had no effect on me he said, "Fine, you first." In the bored voice but continued to stare at me like he was willing something out of me.

I took the microscope, put the slide in and took a brief look, "Anaphase." Then I shoved the microscope roughly at him. He took a brief look as well, much shorter than mine and scribbled the answer on the sheet of paper.

He continued to ignore me as much as was possible while we did the lab. We were the first ones done, everyone else comparing slides over and over. He shoved the paper at me after writing his name across the top, for me to do the same.

"So, which one are you?" I asked, already knowing the answer, but trying to coax him into conversation, and still trying to find a segway into the fact that I knew. "Jasper, Edward, Emmett?"

"I'm Edward Cullen." He stated not even looking at me and pretending to be reading something from a text book.

Ok this was just beyond rude. I was pissed. I tried to ignore him as well as we sat in silence with time quickly ticking away.

When class was almost over I decided to poke the bear with a stick. I took a quick glance around the room making sure no one was paying attention. "So, Edward," I said, turning fully towards him.

"Yes." He hissed at me.

I smirked a little, and whispered just loud enough that I knew he'd hear me and no one else would. "Do you enjoy being a vampire?"

He began to stammer and sputter, and he was definitely looking at me now. The bell rang and I got up, "Well, never mind, that's a conversation for next time." I gathered my things and left him there staring and stuttering after me.

"Hey Edward, are you coming?" his giant brother Emmett was in the doorway looking confused. I smiled brightly at him as I passed; he was much more polite in smiling back brightly. "Let's go man! Are you ok?" I glanced back to see Edward just pointing at me and still looking like he was choking on his own worlds. I laughed loudly, startling Jessica as she fell into step beside me; I knew he'd hear me.

I had a feeling my time in Forks was going to be much more entertaining than I'd originally thought.

Feel free to comment. Thanks for reading and I'll have the next chapter posted asap if people enjoy reading it. Also sorry for any spelling or grammar issues, I'm doing my best.

My new Beta is PuzzlingApprentice!


	2. Chapter 2

Forgot to add my disclaimer last chapter so here it is

I do not own any part of Twilight, or character, I'm just writing stories for funzies.

Beta'd by the gorgeous ladyluck25

Chapter 2

"What's so funny?" Jessica asked as we made our way to the next class. Damn, I had to come up with a good lie or figure out a good way to distract her from the question.

Seeing as I suck at lying I went for the distraction.

"Oh, nothing. Hey! What's up with you and Mike? " I'd seen how she'd been flirting with him at lunch; I knew she wanted him bad.

She looked at me with obvious suspicion on her face. I could practically see the wheels in her head turning; I knew exactly what she was thinking. She was assuming I wanted to steal Mike away.

"Uh, I don't really know," she told me truthfully, "I keep hinting that I want him to ask me out, but apparently he's stupid or doesn't want to." She admitted sadly.

"To hell with that!" she looked at me shocked. "You ask him out. All guys are stupid ; he probably doesn't even realize you're flirting. You two seem like you'd make an awesome couple."

She beamed at me, thrilled that I wasn't planning on moving in on her territory. My distraction had worked. Jessica spent the rest of class contemplating when and where she should ask him, where they should go, if I wanted to get a date and double with them. Definitely not, but I just let her know I'd have to see what I had planned because Charlie was making all kinds of plans for us to get to know each other again. As lies went it wasn't a bad one. Charlie was certainly not worried about getting to know me any better than he did already. He was more like me, a loner, and he understood that about me as well, so we would get along great together. I hoped, anyway.

In between Jessica's rapid thoughts on her and Mike, I began to wonder if outing that I knew what they were to Edward had really been a good idea. I mean, really, what had I been thinking? Sure I was in a crowded school now, but all it would take was for one of the probably now angry vampires to snatch me when no one was looking, or even wait until I went home to make my knowledge disappear forever.

I shuddered, what the hell had I done? And why had I done it? Well that was a stupid question. I did it because I let my temper get the better of me and put my foot in my mouth. I began to get scared. What the hell was I going to do?

I slid my cell phone out of my pocket to where the teacher hopefully couldn't see and began texting.

_Me: **Met new friends today, stuck foot in mouth as usual lol. Little bit worried.** _

_Redneck : **No worries you'll be just fine. Lol dummy!**_

_ Me: **Hope you're right. Gtg bell just rang.**_

_Redneck: **you worry too much anyway. Have a good day. Try not to hurt yourself. LOL!** _

'Jerk! ' I thought as I flipped the phone closed and hurried out in the hall to meet Angela for our next class. I really liked Angela; she didn't hound me with questions, and she just left me alone in my sulky thoughts and smiled sweetly at me when I glanced at her.

I gave a huff at the next class, Advanced Trig. I needed an extra credit and it was the only place left for me to get one. I was pretty sure I'd fail and loose the credit anyway, so I wasn't sure why it really mattered.

When I rounded the corner and stepped through the door, my heart jumped into my throat. I was a little afraid it would claw its way out and squirm away screaming, abandoning me to my fate. Sitting in the back of the room just behind the only empty seat left was the blond beauty queen, to her left was the giant Emmett, and to his left the oh so gorgeous Jasper. I took a deep breath and made my feet move to the chair.

I sat stiff for a few minutes while role was taken. 'This is stupid!' my inner voice screamed at me. 'Why are you so scared? They can't eat you in class. Besides, the redneck said you were fine, and you know better than to question it.'

I relaxed, the voice was right. It always was. Anyway, I didn't even know if Edward had told them about what I'd said yet. Even if he had, worrying about it wasn't going to change anything. They'd either take care of it or leave town.

I stole a glance back at them. Yup, he'd definitely told them. Rosalie glared at me and hissed. I raised my eye brows at her and chuckled. She must be crazy to chance drawing that kind of attention to herself in a crowded classroom. Jasper stared at me with an odd mixture of pain and confusion. Emmett reached over and tapped Rosalie, "Calm down." He whispered.

I turned back around with another chuckle. If they were going to kill me I might as well enjoy myself until they did. She hissed at me again and I wondered how far I could push her before she snapped.

The boy in front of me turned around in his seat at the second hiss, trying to pin point its origins.

"Sorry," I told him and hiked me thumb back at blondie, "I think she's sprung a leak."

He looked at me a little confused and then turned back around.

Rosalie growled at me, just a low rumble that nobody else would probably notice.

"Bite me, bleach job!" I muttered under my breath, knowing they'd hear.

She snapped her teeth at me, it sounded almost like a steel trap closing. Emmett burst into a loud booming laugh. Jasper chuckled and when I stole a glance at him my breath caught. His smile made him even sexier.

"Is there a problem back there?" the teacher barked at us.

"No sir." Emmett was still laughing as he spoke. "We were just enjoying getting to know the new girl."

"Well get to know her on your own time, Mr. Cullen!" The teacher went back to the board and everyone turned back around.

I decided that I should probably stop playing 'Poke the Vampire', which by the way was becoming my new favorite game, at least for a little while.

As soon as the bell rang I picked up my stuff and practically sprinted for the door, only managing to stumble once, but luckily didn't fall. I wanted to put some people and space between me and the vampires.

Unfortunately they were faster than me. Who was I kidding? A snail was faster than me. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Emmett asked from my left, Rosalie was on my right, and Jasper brought up the rear.

Before I could answer, Rosalie's beautiful voice floated across my skin like silk, even with the angry bite to it. "What did you do to our brother?"

I was shocked; he had not spoken to them about what I'd said. Their reaction to me was just because of how Emmett had seen him react to me. I weighed it for a second; tell them the truth, or have a little more fun with them before they drained me dry?

More fun of course.

"Well, he was being very rude. He wouldn't pay any attention to me while we were trying to do a lab together, so I got his attention." I let the story drop there.

Jasper picked up the bait. "And just how did ya do that?" I shivered at his voice. It was deep and had a slight southern accent, making me think of velvet running along my skin.

I shook off the effects his voice had quickly. "I stripped down naked and gave him a lap dance." I said in a flat, bored voice.

The effect my comment had was so wonderful that when they killed me it was so going to be worth it. Emmett stopped in his tracks suddenly and laughed for a split second before Jasper ran into him, causing them both to tumble forward. Rosalie, seeing what was happening, tried to step out of the way of her falling mate and brother, but Emmett reached out trying to stop their decent and caught her by the arm— causing all three of them to land in a dog pile in the center of the hall.

I couldn't help myself; I laughed with the other students who were around to witness their embarrassment. Rosalie stared daggers up at me. I bent down very close to their pile and whispered so no one else could hear, "You know, for vampires, the three of you are oddly uncoordinated." I stood and Mike caught me by the elbow and rushed down the hall as the warning bell rang for last period.

"Come on Bella, we're going to be late for gym!" I let him tow me away, but looked back and smiled at their comically shocked faces as we rounded the corner into the gym.

**_Ok so here is chapter 2 I slapped this one together sort of quickly and I'm still using Microsoft word_**

**_or my spell check and grammar so keep that in mind._**

**_Please enjoy and feel free to comment if you like. I'll try and have a new chapter by tomorrow if you guys enjoy this._**


	3. Chapter 3

As always I own nothing, it all belongs to Stephanie Meyer and I'm just doing this for funzies.

Beta'd by the marvelous ladyluck25

Chapter 3

Gym was brutal. The girls played volleyball and I managed to back hand one girl, tip another, and hit the ball way too hard— knocking it over into the basketball game the boys were playing and pegging Mike in the back of the head, causing him to fall and trip two other boys in the process. The coach quickly gave up on me and let me sit in the bleachers while everyone else played.

I stayed a little later than I normally would so that I could apologize to everyone that I'd maimed. They all accepted but still didn't look happy with me, except Mike.

"No problem, Bella," He told me as we made our way out toward the parking lot. "Maybe you can make it up to me by going out with me this weekend." He tried to pull off a sexy smile, but it just looked goofy on him.

"Um, sorry Mike, I'm busy," I said with just a little false disappointment. I had to get him thinking about Jessica so he wouldn't try this again and cause an issue. I looked around like I was trying to make sure no one was around to hear us. "Besides," I leaned towards him and whispered, "Jessica is planning on asking you out soon and you don't want to already have plans when she does, right?"

He looked a little confused. "Jess?"

"Yeah, dummy, she's crazy about you. I've only been here one day and I can see that! Are you blind?" I laughed at him.

It took him another minute for his brain to catch up to speed, but he got there. "Really? Awesome! Thanks Bella, I'll see you tomorrow!" he called as he rushed to his car; probably to hurry home and call her.

"Don't tell her I told you!" I yelled at him.

"No problem, bye!" and he was gone.

I looked around. Almost all the cars were gone. Just my truck and two other cars remained. 'Huh, I made it out alive, what do you know.'

As I walked into the lot towards my truck I realized I'd spoken way too soon.I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and I looked back to see that I was being followed by a large group of monsters. The entire group of them was following me. I turned back around and walked a little quicker, I was half way to the truck. If I could just get there maybe I'd have a chance. I had to stop abruptly, though, as Rosalie was suddenly standing right in front of me with a look that should have set me on fire, she was so angry.

"How do you know?" she growled at me. Without even thinking about it I reached into my pocket and then held my hand out to her. Nothing moved but her eyes as she glanced down at the object in my palm, "What the hell is that?" she grumbled.

"Tic-Tac, take the whole pack, 'cause you've got some wicked dragon breathe. " I scrunched up my nose to really drive the point home.

She stood there as still as a statue, shock written all over her face once again. Wow, it's not every day you get to watch a vampire's brain cells leak out their ears rendering them stupid, but here I'd done it four times in one day. Kudos to me!

She didn't really have bad breath; her breath was sweet, pleasant really, making me picture honeysuckle. It tried to draw me in like a bee to pollen. I fought the urge. I took advantage of her shock and stepped around her in the direction of my truck. I only made it two steps before Edward was suddenly there; appearing out of nowhere as Rosalie had.

"A lap dance! You told them you gave me a lap dance?" His voice was full of shock and what almost sounded like disgust.

His breath was even sweeter than Rosalie's, making me think of the hard candies my Gran use to have for me when I'd come to see her. I wanted to lean in and see if his lips tasted as sweet as the smell promised. 'Keep it together girl!' Thank you, crazy inner voice.

"Oh, please! Don't look so disgusted! If I had gotten into your lap and wiggled around you would have loved it!" I griped at him. "You seem like you could really use it, too." I tried to side step him, but he was quicker; moving so fast I hadn't even seen him stir.

"Wait! Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" he stammered. Seriously, for vampires these people were on the slow scale. They were easily shocked and distracted.

"Well, you're wound entirely too tight. You seem like you could do with a good release. After which you and blondie could take turns pulling sticks out of each other's asses." That did it. I side stepped him this time.

I smiled at Emmett's booming laughter again, "I love her!" he said between laughs, "Can't we keep her?" his laughing stopped suddenly, "Ow! That hurt Rose!" It sounded like she'd hit him with a granite baseball bat.

"How do you know?!" they all yell at me at the exact same time.

"Man, you guys have a one track mind split between the lot of you, huh?" I pulled my truck door open and slung my bag inside before I started to crawl in after it— I stopped when I felt something hard pressing against me.

I turned, panicked that they were just going to kill me here in the parking lot, and came face to face with the tiny pixie. Her big caramel eyes were wide with awe as she stared at me with a smile so wide that I was sure she must be a psycho. She looked seven different shades of crazy right then.

"Um, hi." Was all I could think of to say as my heart sped up to the point I was sure it would give out any second.

Her head tilted slightly to the left and she continued to stare for another extremely uncomfortable moment. She was so close to me that I had to lean slightly into the cab of my truck. I was unable to pull my legs in because she had me pinned between her body and the bottom of my truck— I was thankful that it had not yet become painful."

We're going to be such great friends!" she said suddenly and stepped back just enough to relieve the hold she had on my legs with her body.

Her voice was high pitched, but not unpleasantly so. It was like tiny bells, or wind chimes on the wind, her breath had a faint peppermint like smell to it. It didn't draw me in as much but it wasn't bad. "Well, that's um, just super." I said; she was still standing to close for me to get into the truck and shut the door. "I guess I'll just see you tomorrow then."

"There are so many out comes," she said in awe again, "So many possibilities. Your future is all over the place." I had no idea what she was talking about. I stole a quick glance away from hers and realized her behavior was making the rest of them nervous.

Rosalie and Emmett stood near the rear of my truck just looking tense. Jasper had moved up behind Alice, so close that he was pressed right up behind her. Edward had moved to the side of me, taking what looked like a protective stance, ready to defend me if needed. This whole situation was getting weirder by the second.

"What's she seeing, Edward?" Rosalie asked quietly.

"I can't tell." He grumbled. "There are so many out comes flying threw at once I can't see any of them.

"Huh, what am I missing?" This whole thing was making my head hurt.

"Alice sees the future, and Edward can read minds. Your future apparently ain't too clear, and Edward doesn't understand what Alice is seein'." Jasper offered, his southern drawl was thicker now and he leaned a little over Alice like he was trying to get a better view, or maybe smell. He looked a little dazed.

A small gust of wind whipped by and caused this whole strange ordeal to reach its breaking point. Jaspers nostrils flared and he growled loudly, another gust of wind whipped from the other direction and Edward had the same reaction. The fear I was having over all of this was causing me to smell more like a snack than a friend.

I swallowed and waited for the end to come, hoping it would be quick. Alice reacted then, she shoved her body back into Jasper, while at the same time grabbing a hold of Edward by the arm and slinging him in Emmett's direction. He might be big but he wasn't stupid, and caught on quick to what the pixie was doing. He clamped his arms around Edward, holding him in a vise grip. Alice had Jasper a few feet from me now and was petting his face gently, making little soothing noises.

Once I was sure everything was under control I lost all function in my legs and sank to me knees, taking a shuddering breath. After she was sure Jasper had himself under control, Alice came back over to me and bent down, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "How dare the both of you decide to drain our new friend!" she scolded them. "Come on Bella, let's get you up and get some feeling back in your legs."

As I rose my eyes strayed to Jasper first; he looked angry, his beautiful golden eyes boring into my plain chocolate brown ones. My legs felt week again. As I pictured that same passion and intensity being directed on other emotions in a much more intimate setting. Wow, what a strangely random thought to be having at this point, and about him. He looks like he'd sooner break my neck than offer me a kind word, much less allow himself to be placed in an intimate situation with me.

My gaze shifted to Edward, he looked ashamed. His eyes were down cast, staring at the ground while he was still in Emmett's iron grip. Strangely I wanted to comfort him, both of them. I wanted to sooth the heat out of Jaspers anger; make him see me as more than just a silly human girl. I wanted to hold Edward and reassure him that everything was fine. Make sure he knew I wasn't angry at him for acting off of his instincts. I wanted them both to be happy, not sad, and not angry. The features sat oddly on their beautiful god like faces.

God, what was happening to me today? I was all over the place, definitely not myself. I just wanted to go home and see if Charlie still kept a bottle of whisky hidden under his bed. "No, if you do that Charlie will catch you and ship you back off to your mother." Alice patted me gently on the back. "Now, how are your legs?"

I took a deep shuddering breath. "Yeah, thanks. I uh, I'm going home now." I turned slowly, still a little shaky to get into the truck.

"Wait!" Rosalie said exasperated, "How the hell do you know about us?!"

"Why do you keep asking me that? Why not just have the "The Amazing Kreskin" fish it out of my head and leave me alone!"

"Because I can't read you," Edwards's voice came out low and I almost didn't hear it.

I thought about that for a few seconds. "Does that happen a lot? Not being able to read people, that is." Why did I ask that when I had almost been home free? Stupid!

"No! Never!" Rosalie snapped. "Now answer the question!"

I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. "Are you really texting someone right now?" She was almost yelling at me again.

"What? No— would you just shut up for a second?" I scrolled down through the numbers, found the redneck, clicked call and hit speaker.

"Hells Bells, you're only gone two days and you already miss me!" he laughed. "What's up, little bit?"

I didn't answer; I didn't get a chance to. Jaspers angry features had smoothed down to a comically shocked look and it was he that answered. "Peter!" His eyes darted from me to the phone.

"Major! How they hangin' man?" Peter chuckled through the phone.

"HELL YEAH!" Emmett's sudden outburst startled me. "WE GET TO KEEP HER!"

I was pretty sure my sentence in Forks wasn't going to be as dull and boring as I'd suspected.

Okay, so here's chapter 3 I hope you enjoy.

Sorry if this chapter drags on or is confusing, I'm pretty sure the next chapter will explain away some of the confusion. It's just really late right now and I'm running on fumes today, and it was just brought to my attention that I misspelled Emmett's name throughout the first 2 chapters so from here on out it will be fixed lol.

Also I got a question about the whole singer issue. I probably should have explained that already. I've done away it. Bella will not be Edward's singer. With everything else I'm changing and with Bella already being aware of the vampire world I didn't need it to get her into their world and it would have wrecked the pace of my new story line. Sorry if it makes you unhappy. I hope you enjoy regardless. Feel free to ask any more questions if I've totally messed up this chapter and I need to clarify anything

Thanks feel free to comment and review!


	4. Chapter 4

As always I own nothing and profit from not of it it's all for funzies.

Chapter 4

I was suddenly seized up in a crushing bear hug and swung around in a circle; my phone went flying through the air. Thankfully, Jasper caught it before it hit that ground and shattered.

"Emmett," I managed to wheeze out as he stopped spinning but continued to hug me with my feet dangling high off the ground. I was sure I looked like a kid in his massive arms, "Can't breathe. Human. Need air."

"Oh! Sorry Bells." He put me back down gently, took a step back, and gave me a sheepish smile. Strangely the nickname my father used for me sounded natural coming from Emmett, like he used it all the time.

"Emmett!" Edward exclaimed.

"What dude, I said I was sorry." He thought he was being scolded for his actions.

Edward ignored his words, "Touch her again!" He ordered instead.

I just stared at him with one eye brow arched.

"Dude! Creeper perv says what?" Emmett responded.

"What?" Edward asked confused, evidently too distracted to follow his brother's train of thought.

"Exactly!" We both said in unison, and then laughed. I liked Emmett more and more by the second. My tension eased more when everyone else joined in our laughter.

Edward didn't seem to appreciate it though, "Uh! Just touch her hand or something!" If he had circulating blood, I was sure his face would be red with anger.

Emmett reached over and gently took my hand. "Edward, what's wrong?" Alice asked in her musical voice.

"I can't hear Emmett when he's touching her." He answered with a look somewhere between awe and frustration. He reached up and put his hands on either side of Emmett's face, and leaned into him as far as he could. Their faces were so close together that I thought they might start to make out right there in front of everyone.

Emmett leaned down just a little closer to Edward, their lips almost touching, "I've told you more than once, I love you but I'm not in love with you, man. So stop trying to molest my face, please." He let out another booming laugh as Edward jerked his hands away and backed up. You just couldn't help but laugh along with the big lug. He was so genuinely happy and upbeat.

"I'm having trouble reading more than one of you at time!" Edward continued with his list of complaints.

"How are you having trouble?" Rosalie asked, reaching over and pulling Emmett away from me like she thought I might hurt him or something.

"I can only read one of you at a time, and I have to concentrate to do that! Whatever is going on with her is messing with my gift, and it's just you guys. I've had no problem reading the other humans around her today." He kept staring at me like he was waiting for me to sprout wings, or maybe a second head to do a little duet with.

"Haha! That's our little hellion; one of a kind, through and through!" Peter laughed through my phone. I'd forgotten that he was still there. "Listen ya'll, Bella's got things she's gotta get done, and she's gotta get home in time ta make her poppa some dinner." He informed them in a tone that left no room for argument. "Major, I assume I'll be hearing from you shortly?"

"You're damn straight! You assume right!" he sounded angry at Peter. I couldn't figure out why. Peter had done nothing wrong aside from being acquainted with me.

"Looking forward to it Major. Bella babe, I'm sure I'll talk to you later as well." He was cut off and it sounded like he had dropped the phone or something.

"Bella, I'll call you tonight to tuck you in." A sweet feminine voice with a southern accent came on the line.

"Charlotte?!" Jasper squeaked out, the hits just kept on coming.

"Hi Jasper!"

"Charlotte, you can't tuck someone in over the phone." I told her in small voice and rolled my eyes. I could feel my face heat up as I blushed; she was embarrassing me in front of my new friends. But I loved Charlotte dearly.

My relationship with my mother had been an odd one. She was a good mother in her own right, but somehow along the way our roles had reversed and I'd become the adult. I was the one who made sure we ate right, made sure the bills got paid on time, did most of the house work, and spent more time comforting her than she had done for me. I didn't really mind. I loved my mother.

But when Charlotte came along she brought with her a natural ability to mother me. She gave me advice and scolded me, and yes, even tucked me in some nights.

"Isabella Marie Swan!" came the response I knew I would get.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Don't make me run my ass all the way to Washington and put you over my knee for sassin'. I heard that eye roll."

I couldn't help but smile. "Yes ma'am, I'll be waiting for your call."

"Good girl. We love you."

"Ya'll look after our baby girl for us; she's a little accident prone." Peter laughed again.

Before anyone could respond, they called out in unison a cheerful "Bye!" and the line went dead.

The vampires were all standing around looking dumb struck. I took advantage of it and crawled into the cab of my truck and shut the door, but I rolled the window down. That way if they decided to try and keep me much longer I could just drive off. Peter had been right, as always, and I do mean always. I'd gotten money from Charlie this morning for groceries since he had none in the house. And I also wanted to get home in time to make him a nice dinner. It had been something I enjoyed doing back in Arizona and was excited to get to do something familiar.

Jasper was the one who approached the window first. I flinched back just for a second but recovered quickly. He and Edward had scared me a little with their impromptu attack. But I was resilient, and good at getting over things that scared or bothered me pretty quickly. I knew they hadn't meant it. They were just doing what came naturally.

All the anger had completely faded from his face. But his stare was still so intense with several emotions playing over his face so fast I couldn't even recognize all of them. I thought I recognized curiosity, excitement, confusion, and pity. Even with all that, though, his features were so perfect. I had that same urge to see those intense eyes focused on more intimate emotions and activities. He reached through the window and placed my phone into my hand. Everywhere his skin touched mine tingled.

His eyebrow rose, he was failing at trying to repress a small knowing smile. No! He couldn't possible know, could he? Then Peter's words floated through my head. Major, he'd call Jasper Major. I knew that from somewhere, but where? My eyes widened in shock.

I remembered a conversation I'd had with Peter just after I'd met him and Charlotte about a year and a half ago. I had been lying in bed; he and Charlotte were sitting on the floor talking to me as I drifted off. I had been asking them about other vampires. They were telling me about the variety of them they'd met over the years and their unique gifts just before I'd slipped into the darkness of sleep. The Major had been Peter's best friend and he'd had an extremely unique gift; he was an empath. At the time I'd been too tired to place what the word had meant. But the definition was ringing clear in my head right now. He could feel my emotions. He could feel my little surge of lust. He knew I was thinking naughties about him!

"What are you?" I asked in a tiny voice; I needed to clarify that it was really him, and that's what he could do.

There was no hiding the smile now. "I'm an empath."

I slapped both my hands over my face in mortification.

"What did you do to her, Jaz?" Emmett chuckled.

He just cleared his throat and tried his best to get rid of the smirk. "Um, Peter's right; we should let Bella get going." A growl came from Edward's direction and everyone but me just ignored him. I peeked through my fingers at him before I peeled my hands away altogether. He was staring daggers at Jasper.

"Why?" Rosalie snapped. "We still need some answers."

He turned towards her, "If we keep her, she'll be late getting home and the chief may come looking for her."

"So?" she sneered.

Emmett moved up behind her, sliding one arm around her waist and the other going to her hand, bringing it up to his lips for a kiss. "He's right, Rose. More than a few cars have gone by since we've been out here, and I'm sure more than one person noticed how intense some of this has been. If we just take her now or keep her, it won't take long for them to connect it with us." So he wasn't just a big, dumb, goofy jock with a pretty face. He had some brains in there, too. "Besides, we can trust her."

"How do you know?" she barked at him.

"'Cause Peter trusts her, and I trust Peter." Jasper's accent was getting thicker.

"So? I don't!" she snapped back again.

"But ya trust me, don't ya Rosie?"

She looked like she wanted to keep arguing but she relented, "Of course, Jasper."

She still looked upset, though. "Peter would have called in warning if she posed a threat to us, Rose." Edward tried reasoning with her. "And if she does tell anyone, we can just leave."

"But I don't want to leave!" she stomped her foot like a child.

"Oh, Please! Just suck it up Rose!" Alice stomped right back at Rosalie, mocking her childishness. "Peter obviously sent her here for a reason! So get over it, and just let it play out."

I was a little shocked. "What makes you say he sent me here?" She was right of course. Peter had sent me here. He'd been the one to point out to me that mother was falling further into depression every time my step dad, Phil, left for an away game. He'd pushed a little here, prodded a little there. He kept telling me that a change of scenery would do me some good. And when I kept bucking the idea he finally told me that I was going to find what I needed in Forks. I was still trying to figure that one out. I had no idea what I had been lacking in Arizona or what I was supposed to be looking for here.

There was also the fact that you just shouldn't argue with Peter, he's always right.

"Because Peter is an insufferable know it all and only pops up when he wants to stick his nose into things." She told me in a sweet, cheerful voice. "Buts always entertaining and he always has a good reason for most of the things he does." Jasper chuckled at her assessment, obviously agreeing.

"Okay little darlin', you should get goin'." It took Edward growling at him again, and Alice turning to face him, her eye brows raised and her mouth in a thin line, before he realized what he'd done.

"No! I didn't mean….what I meant was…." He gave a nervous chuckle and stepped right next to Alice and wrapped an arm firmly around her waist. "I didn't mean ta call you darlin'. You should uh, you probably wanna go. There's your daddy's dinner and everything."

"Um, yeah ok. See you guys later." I started my roaring truck. I wanted to get out of there before things got any weirder. I turned to wave at them but they weren't there; they were already in their car, a shiny silver Volvo, pulling out of the lot.

I took several deep breaths and then pulled out myself. Only I could move to the tiniest town in the world and stumble on the nearest monsters, and then manage to anger them, amuse them, make a fool out of myself, and have them befriend me in less than twenty-four hours.

Jasper's POV

Darlin'! You called her little darlin'! You called her little darlin' in front of your wife! Have you lost your ever lovin' mind! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it, you ass!

I had no idea what to do. I hadn't even realized I'd done it until everyone reacted, and their emotions slammed into me. Emmett was what he always was, amused at the situation and hot for Rosalie. Always hot for Rosalie. He was my best friend next to Peter, but sometimes his and Rosalie's hormones drove me to the brink of insanity.

Rosalie was just annoyed. She hadn't really noticed.

Edward radiated anger; it hit me like a branding iron. I assumed he was angry for Alice's sake— that her husband was a giant moron— until his second emotion hit me. He was jealous. He felt something for the girl. It was undefined so far but it was there. He thought I was really hitting on her.

That was a little shocking. Edward didn't care for humans. He didn't even really notice they were there unless they might pose a threat to the family. It wasn't like I couldn't see what he saw in the girl, though.

Sure, if you weren't really looking you wouldn't notice her. But if you were lucky enough to be paying attention, you'd notice the little bit of red highlight in her long chestnut hair when the light hit it just right. Or the endless depth of her chocolate colored doe eyes, or her invitingly kissable pink lips with her upper lip just slightly larger than the bottom, set on a sweet heart shaped face. Her pale ivory skin seemed to pull it all together nicely. It looked smooth, and soft. I bet it was soft. I had an urge to reach out and stroke her cheek to find out. Her body was just a little too slender, but she was still developing, and you could already see where her curves where starting to fill in nicely.

Edward growled again.

Wife! You have a Wife! A wife whose emotions were all over the place; anger first, hotter than Edward's, then jealousy, then excitement, joy, indifference, joy again, annoyance. What the hell?

I quickly moved to wrap my arm around her to reassure her. It didn't. Still with the annoyance.

When the girl finally started her truck and we all moved to our own vehicle I was relieved. I had no idea what this girl was doing to all of us, but it was bizarre to say the least. I'd gone from simply being curious about her, to being ready to do whatever needed to be done to protect the family, to being amused by her, to being shocked by her, and then to wanting to eat her.

Which, by the way, I was very humiliated and remorseful about; I hadn't wanted to scare her. But I felt protective of her, now that I knew that Peter had sent her to us for some reason. I would have to call him as soon as we returned home, but probably after a hunting trip. I could still feel the burn in my throat from her sweet sent.

She had smelled wonderful earlier when I'd walked next to her in the hallway, but nothing that was unbearable. It wasn't until her sweet floral sent was mixed with the tangy scent of fear, and she smelled like prey, that it had become too much.

I felt a little smug as I rode in the back seat, my arms still around my sweet little pixie. Edward was constantly giving me a hard time over how hard it was for me to stay on our chosen diet of forest critters, but today he'd lost his cool just as bad as I had.

I knew he could hear my thoughts, he growled at me again. I ignored him. It would do him some good to get knocked off the pedestal he was always on; looking down his nose at the rest of us. Sanctimonious prick! He growled again.

I spent the rest of the ride trying to concentrate on Alice. How beautiful she was, how kind she was, how loving she was. Why was I trying to talk her up to myself? Then that thought led back to the doe eyed girl. She was fascinating to me. I wanted to get to know her. I wanted to protect her, I wanted to be friends. Over and over again my thoughts would loop.

Finally I tried another tactic; hunting, think about hunting. "Emmett, want to go hunting when we get home?"

"Hell yeah!" Joy again radiated off of him. He loved nothing more than Rose, and pulling pranks and joking around, but hunting came as a close third. I concentrated on that. Hunting. Where to go? What to hunt?

Edward could speak with Carlisle and I'd call Peter later. No more thinking. Just hunting; just instinct. I wouldn't think of her.

We pulled into the drive; we all exited the car quickly and Emmitt and I hastily flitted into the woods after a quick kiss to our wives. Emmett cheered loudly, and I allowed myself to unwind and immerse myself in the hunt. S

Edwards POV

I growled at Jasper again as he called me a 'sanctimonious prick'. It wasn't true; I didn't look down on all of them. I just thought that he could put a little more effort into 'staying on the wagon,' as we put it.

And as for attacking Isabella, well that had been his fault. The girl had smelled wonderful when she'd sat next to me in science class, but it had been bearable. She'd smelled sweet, like flowers. But when Alice scared her and her scent changed it was very nearly my undoing. And then that monster had an image of biting her, and it was just too much. It had only been a split second of weakness, I would have gotten it back under control before I would have hurt her; I know it. Alice just over reacted.

Yeah, just keep telling yourself that. You know damn well you almost hurt that poor child. You almost let that monster hurt her, as well. She was so strange. She fascinated me. Other than her momentary slip when Alice frightened her, she was completely indifferent to us.

She's quirky, and funny, and pretty. No, more than pretty— she's actually quite beautiful. I had to agree with Jasper there. I felt like I could get lost in the depths of her chocolate eyes. And I couldn't hear her. I was never able to speculate how she would react to things. Her reactions thus far were quite odd, but I liked that.

I was shocked to realize that I liked her. I wanted to know her. I wanted to protect her. And why the hell did Jasper want to get to know her? He was married to my sister! No way in hell would I let him near her again. I would protect her from him. She was so small and frail looking; someone had to care for her. I could do it. I could make sure Jasper didn't slip and drain her.

When we pulled up and everyone flitted out of the vehicle, Jasper and Emmett headed for the forest. I approved. At least he was making an effort to control it. I could feel the ache myself; I could handle it, though. I wasn't like Jasper. I'd talk to Carlisle first, bring him up to speed on the new arrival, and then I'd hunt. That way I wouldn't put her at risk tomorrow.

As I entered our home in search of our adopted father, I couldn't get her face out of my mind. She consumed me.

Ok so here's chapter 4

I'm not sure if the alternate pov's really worked, let me know what you think. If they don't, then I'll keep the rest of the story predominantly Bella pov

Oh! One more thing, I'm bouncing back and forth about including Jacob in this story. Let me know what ya think

I'm working on chapter 5 as you read I'll upload asap.

Enjoy and feel free to comment

I'm loving my beta!


	5. Chapter 5

As always I own nothing, this is all for funzies.

Chapter 5

After the shiny silver Volvo drove off, which by the way looked like a sardine can filled to the point of bursting with piranha to me, I pulled out of the lot and as quickly and as carefully as possible made my way to the grocery store.

When I'd arrived at Charlie's I realized he had almost no food in the house. In his fridge were an almost empty half gallon of milk, a wedge of cheese, and a couple different kinds of meat for sandwiches. In the cabinet I found a few old cans of soup that looked like they may have been sitting there since the last time I'd lived under his roof. And then sadly next to his recliner in the living room he had a tiny mini fridge stocked with his beer. He did have the good grace to put a doily on the top though so it looked a little like an end table if you weren't really paying attention.

He kept insisting that he'd do the shopping in the morning, but I assured him that I would be more than happy to take over all the shopping and cooking for the house. It was something familiar and I'd get some pleasure out of. I'd done all the cooking back home in Phoenix. My mother sadly had no cooking skills at all, and when she really tried the results could be disastrous.

One year for the holidays we wound up with a turkey that she somehow managed to burn to a crisp on the outside and was still almost completely raw in the middle. I was still trying to figure that one out. It wasn't just with the things you eat either. When I was younger, one year for Easter she colored eggs for my kindergarten class to hunt. But when kids started grabbing the eggs excitedly and they started to crack in their hands we discovered that she had forgotten to boil them before coloring them. My entire class was covered in raw egg. But you had to love her, she'd tried.

As pushed the buggy through the isles I couldn't help but notice that the other customers and employees were all stealing quick glances at me when they thought I wouldn't notice. Aw small town living. These people needed to get out more often if a 17 year old girl moving back to town with her father was the highlight of their excitement.

I wished Charlotte were here. I never felt uncomfortable when people stared when I was out with her. She was so pretty that I knew they were staring at her and not me. I missed my pale friends back home. We'd been almost inseparable since I'd met them a little over a year and half ago. They would sit out in Peter's big black truck with blacked out windows when I had to do things like grocery shopping, just to make sure no one messed with me. On the very few rainy, and over cast days, Charlotte would come in the store with me to make sure I was buying healthy foods. Peter helped me with my homework. They would hunt, and spend "Quality Time", as Peter would put it, together while I slept, or was at school or with my mom. She'd never even known about them, my second family.

I was a little miffed at Peter though. How could he send me here and not tell me I'd be running into vampires, a huge coven of them no less. I pushed those thoughts out of my head. I knew better than that. If Peter hadn't mentioned something like that there had to be a good reason for it. I'd make him explain himself tonight when Charlotte called me.

I wondered if he was talking to Jasper right now. I thought about jasper again, he was so beautiful, how could I not think about him. Then Edward's face creped in beside Jasper's in my mind. I couldn't help but compare the two of them. They were almost the same height, Jasper was maybe an inch or two taller, but they were both still at least almost a foot taller than my short 5'4', they were similar in musculature as well, jasper maybe just a little more defined but still somehow leaner than Edward, but they were still both such hotties.

"Oh damn!" I'd been day dreaming way to hard about the hotties and pushed my buggy straight into a pyramid of cereal boxes that the stock by hadn't even gotten completely put up yet. He glared at me from the step latter he was standing on, one box of cereal still in his hand. "I'm so sorry!" I scrambled around trying to help pick them up.

"It's fine," he told me, "it's not like I'd been working on that all day and was almost done or anything." I glanced over at the large dolly he'd been using to hold the boxes while he stacked them. He'd been putting the last box up when I hit them.

"I'm so sorry, please let me help you fix this." I kept picking up boxes but once my arms were full I didn't know where to go with them so I just stood there looking like an idiot with an arm full of cereal.

The manager came over, "Miss please, it's not trouble, and Riley can finish this. It was just an accident right Riley?"

"Yes sir, yes mam, its ok. "The kid looked like it was definitely not ok.

I put the boxes in my arms back down in a neat little pile and continued to say I was sorry as I pushed my buggy on through the store, making sure to snag a box of the sugary cereal on my way by and drop it in my buggy.

I managed to make it out of the store with about a weeks' worth of groceries and not cause any more disasters. I also bought the kid one of those little single packs of cookies, with the little granny on the front of the package and took it back to him, offering him another round of sorrys. He smiled at me as I left. I hated that I'd caused him so much extra work.

Once I was home I put everything away and pulled out a pack of chicken legs and breast to put on to fry. It was Charlie's favorite. I got it battered and fried as quickly as I could, and still made sure it was fully cooked, didn't want to repeat any of my mom's mistakes. For sides I made mashed potatoes and some steamed veggies with cheese.

By the time I Charlie got home, I was finishing up my homework and dinner was in the oven to keep warm. "Hey Bells," he called as he hung up his jacket and gun belt.

I put my homework away in my back pack and started pulling dinner out and setting the table. "In here Dad."

"Something smells really good." He rubbed his stomach and smiling. "When you said you could cook I didn't know that meant you could actually cook."

"What did you think it meant?" I laughed at him began digging in.

He took a bite off of a chicken leg and closed his eyes in mock bliss. "Well, I kind of assumed you would be a little like your mom and say you could cook and then burn the kitchen down." We both laughed. "Did they give you any trouble using my debit card at the store?"

"Nope, it seems everyone in town already knows how I am, and that I belong to you." I smiled as he shoveled in more food. I was so glad he was enjoying it. Charlie really needed someone to take care of him. I was happy to do it. "Although, I did manage to take out a stack of cereal boxes that a boy was stacking."

We didn't talk again until he was completely done. "So how was your first day? Everybody nice to you?"

I thought about that for a second, how was my first day? Was everyone nice to me? I couldn't very well tell him the truth, why yes everyone was so kind to me, you know other than the stunning blonde vampire who wanted to kill me for knowing what she and her family really are. But don't worry we worked it all out and they've decided to keep me. Yeah, I could visualize the pretty padded walls already.

"Yes everyone was really nice, and my day was, well, eventful." Was what I came up with.

He smiled, no doubt imagining what I would classify as eventful, probably tripping over my feet all day. "that's nice, make any new friends?"

"Yeah, a group of kids I sat with at lunch today. Mike Newton, Angela Webber, Jessica Stanley, and Eric something or other, I don't remember his last name." I wondered if I should mention the Cullens and Hales.

"Yeah I know who you're talking about. Nice bunch of kids." He was helping me clear the table now and wash the dishes.

I should probably say something about them, Emmett had been right, quite of few cars had driven by during our little get together. And in a town this small someone would mention it to him if it wasn't me. "I also hung out with the Cullens and the Hale twins after school this afternoon."

He dropped the fork he'd been drying. "What do you mean hung out? Like they actually spoke to you?"

Huh, strange reaction. Surely Charlie doesn't know about them. "Yeah, dad. That is what people usually do when they spend time together. We just hung out talking in the school parking lot for a little bit. Why? Do you not like them or something?"

He recovered and picked the fork up. "No, I mean yeah, it's fine. I've just never seen them interact with any of the other kids; they kind of keep to their selves. But they seem like a nice enough family. The Doc. is great. He works over at the hospital. I think his wife works from home or something, I've only seen her once or twice but she was great." Nope he didn't know. I was relieved. I didn't want to have to endanger Charlie with the knowledge, or have him trying to interfere with my friendship with them.

"Okay dad, I'm going to hit the sack." I told him as we finished the last dish.

"Wait!" I turned and waited. "Are you and any of your new friends making plans for the weekend?" he asked.

"Not that I know of why?"

"I was going to go down to the res tomorrow, maybe do some fishing with Harry and Billy. Do you remember them?" I knew who they were and I knew what he wanted but I really didn't want to give it to him

"Yeah," I waited I wasn't going to answer his unspoken question until I really just had to.

"Well do want me to stay here, maybe we could do something?" he asked, "or maybe," here it came, "do you want to come down with me? You'd have lots of fun I think Jacob is about you age and he's got lots of friends out here you'd like. He's been asking about you a lot, wanting to know when you're coming out to see him."

Damn! I wasn't sure what how to answer. Jacob Black had been my only friend when I would come and visit Charlie before I quit coming back to Forks. When I stopped we'd started a pen pal relationship, and exchanged phone calls all the time. He'd even come out to Phoenix once about a year ago to see me. That had been the last time I'd seen him and I'd only spoken to him one the phone a few more time, after that is was letters only, then short impersonal letters, then nothing.

I'm pretty sure Charlie had been hoping me and Jacob would hit it off and he and Billy Black, Jacob's dad would get to be family for real. No such luck.

When Jake had come out to see me I'd been so happy and excited to see my old friend. He'd changed so much physically since I'd seen him last. He'd grown so tall that he would probably had given the giant Emmett a run for his money in the height department, and grown muscles to match his enormous height. He'd cut off all his lovely long black hair, and kept it cropped short. It didn't look bad but I liked his long hair better. And to top everything off he has some kind of tribal tattoo on right shoulder. I didn't even know you could get tattoos that young. But the whole package all together was quite nice.

We'd had an awesome time together, until I made the mistake in thinking he could handle the truth about my new friends and that he would love them as much as I did. He'd freaked. Not only did he just freak, but I got the chance to learn a huge secret my best friend had been keeping from me.

I'd taken him on a long walk into the desert out behind my house, so no one else would catch a glimpse of my sparkly buddies. We walked all the way out to a small cliff with a small cave. Peter and Charlotte sat just inside out of the sunlight.

"So what's this big surprise half pint?" Jake asked when I stopped just outside the cave.

"I want you to meet my friends." I said and motioned for them to come out.

"Bells baby, I don't think this is such a good idea." Peter's voice echoed off the walls inside the little cave. Jacob stiffened.

"Why not? You can trust Jake, he's my best friend." I was so stupid.

When they stepped out into the sunlight and began to sparkle, all hell broke loose. I heard a growl that I thought came from Peter at first and started to scold him, until I realized it was coming from behind me. I turned to see Jacob with a look of pure rage on his face, and then he exploded, and in his place stood a giant russet colored wolf.

Peter and Charlotte bot yelled, "Bella get back!" Jake roared at them.

All I could think to say was "huh, you don't see that every day." I hadn't know that Jacob was a werewolf before this moment, but after finding out about vampires I'd assumed that logically there had to be more out there. So I wasn't really shocked to see one in the flesh. I was however pissed that my best friend, who'd I'd told every one of my deepest darkest secrets to had kept this huge thing from me.

Instead of running away I walked up to the huge wolf. Peter and Charlotte protesting but not coming any closer, afraid Jacob would attack them. "No! Bad Jacob!" I slapped him hard on the end of his big black nose. "How dare you keep this from me?" I slapped him on the nose again. If he'd have been a small dog I would have just thumped his nose, but he was way too big for that to bother him. "And stop growling at my friends right now!"

The big monster wined like a scolded puppy dog, tucked his tail under, and nudged me in the side with his snout. I knew Jacob well enough to know he was trying to tell me he was sorry.

Peter burst out laughing. "Well hells Bells, I should have known you'd be the only person on the face of the earth who could have a fully grown werewolf cower under her anger!" Charlotte still just looked shocked.

That night Jacob confessed everything to me. He told me how when his people came into contact with vampires that the dormant gene for being a werewolf activated and they began turning to protect their people from the "blood suckers" as he'd put it. Once the vampires left the gene would lay dormant again until it was needed again. His size was due to the change, the tattoo was the mark of their pack, and his hair cut was because the longer their hair was the shaggier their wolf form was.

I'd made see Peter and Charlotte again to apologize. The guys had actually gotten along pretty well, but the rest of our visit together until he went back to Forks had been tense. From what he'd told me the last time I talked to him on the phone he'd gotten into trouble when he'd gotten home with the pack for clueing me in, and for chumming it up the "leaches". They were limiting his contact to me. Them in his last letter he said he couldn't contact me anymore, for a while at least.

If I'd have really thought about it, I should have known there would be vampires around Forks somewhere. Otherwise why had the pack started shifting in the first place? Some days I was just slow.

I'd known coming to Forks meant that I would have to deal with Jake at some point. But now that it was right in front of me I didn't want to. Damn my life was so all kinds of twilight zone, down in the rabbit whole since I'd met Peter. At least it wasn't dull though.

"Bells?" Charlie's voice pulled me back out of my thoughts.

"Um, nah," I told him. "You go ahead and have fun fishing. I think I'm going to redo my room, get some of the kids' stuff out of there." He'd left all my old stuffed animals, and art work in there. "Also, you've got a pile of laundry taller than me in the wash room, and the house could really use a good once over." That was actually true.

"You don't have to do everything around the house yourself Bells I can help." He had that pleasing look on his face. "And Jake's really been hounding me about seeing you."

"I like doing it. I also I have a book report due next week. I have a ton of reading to get done." I hated that sad puppy dog look, "I'll go out and see him soon though I promise." And I would. I missed Jake, but he would be getting a lecture for letting them tell him who he could and couldn't see.

"Okay," he relented.

"Night dad." I fled the room before he could try and talk me into anything else.

I hope you all enjoyed chapter 5

Feel free to leave me some feedback on how I'm doing.

Next chapter gets back on the main topic I just thought some people were right and I could leave Jacob out, and I hope you guys like his intoroduction.


	6. Chapter 6

As always I own nothing, it's all for funzies.

Chapter 6

I was so tired as I trudged up the stairs, I only managed to trip once and knock my shin on one of the steps. Once I was in my room I sat on the end of my bed and pulled started trying to untie my book laces. I missed my flip flops. Back home I'm could wear them year round.

The laces were in a knot that was refusing to budge. The more I tugged the tighter the knot got. I jumped and gave out a high pitched squeal as my widow opened and shut so quickly that I wouldn't have even noticed it if I hadn't heard the soft bang it made as it closed and the cold breeze that gusted through my room as the damn vampire rushed almost silently in.

"Bella, you okay?" Charlie yelled from down stairs.

I rushed to my door and called down, "Yeah dad I just tripped over my shoe," I didn't want him coming up and catching me with a strange man in my room. "I'm going to get a shower and go to bed."

"Alright, good night honey."

I shut the door and turned to glare at Jasper. "What the hell!? Don't you know how to knock or use a phone? You could have at least tapped on the window and waited for an invitation!"

He just chuckled, "And miss your reaction? Never honey" he mocked my dad's endearment. I liked his laugh, it was contagious. I couldn't help but laugh with him.

"So, what are you doing here?" I sat back down on the end of my bed and started working on the shoe lace again, and trying so very hard not to stare at his face.

Jasper's POV

Hunting hadn't help me get her off my mind like I'd hoped. Emmett, the big idiot wouldn't stop talking about her. He was just so excited to have a new playmate. He was like a giant oversized twelve year old sometimes. He just couldn't wait to play with his new friend again.

I felt horrible now when I thought of her. The look on her face as she sank to the ground after we'd attacked her. The look of horror in her eyes as she was sure that she was about to die was heartbreaking. I wanted to erase the image form my mind, but every time I closed my eyes her face was there.

After I finished feeding well over what I really needed, I told Emmett I needed him to stay gone from the house for another hour, I had something I needed to go do and didn't want everyone else in the house to know yet.

"Sure bro, anything for you." He took off to hunt some more. He hadn't even questioned me. I loved him so much, he was definitely my favorite brother.

I knew Alice would see me. The minute I chose to come here, her eyes would glaze over and she'd see it happen. But I was hoping she'd see that I meant no harm and everything would be okay, and she wouldn't alert the whole house about it. I could just tell Bella how sorry I was and make sure she wasn't huddled in the corner scared to death.

Why had I come here? I couldn't remember. I know I'd started out with a purpose, but standing here now watching the little human tugging at her damned shoe lace with the tip of her tiny pink tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth my brain short circuited. How the hell was she making trying to get a knot out of her laces sexy?

Wife you ass! You have a wife! "Um, I just wanted to come and apologize for this afternoon."

She looked up at me then. "What for?" she looked genuinely confused.

"For taking a snap at you today." Her face was still confused, the only emotions was getting at the moment was pure confusion as well. I didn't understand her reaction. I was also shocked that she wasn't scared out of her mind just having me standing there in front of her. After all I had tried to take a bite out of her today.

"Why would you be sorry for that?"

I took a quick look around her room. There was a giant pile of stuffed animals sitting near her closet, childish drawings and finger paintings on the walls, and one of those clear totes with what looked like dolls and toys in it. Maybe she was just simple was truly just not understanding this whole situation. She'd seemed quite capable earlier today but that was the only explanation I could come up with.

Okay if she's simple then speak slower, and more clearly. In a voice that was just louder, but still just quiet enough for her father not to over hear downstairs, I said very slowly, "My.. brother.. and i.. almost.. hurt.. you .. today.. and I .. just.. wanted.. you.. tell.. you.. how.. sorry.. I am.. it.. was.. not.. very.. nice." She raised one eye brow at me and just continued to stare.

She blinked several times and looked around her room like she wasn't sure where she was. Oh god, Peter had sent us crazy women. That was it she was just crazy.

"Do you have some sort of mental disorder, or are you just nutter butters crazy?" she asked echoing my thoughts about her.

I opened my mouth several times to answer her, but nothing came out. "I'm not really sure what's going on right now." I admitted to her, and started massaging my forehead with my fingertips. Vampires couldn't get headaches, but I felt like I could possibly develop one any second.

"I'm not on like one of those hidden camera shows or anything right? Cuz I'm pretty sure this whole situation just too bizarre?"

"No." well at least with one word answers I wasn't a babbling idiot.

She smiled and I felt her amusement wash over me. She had a beautiful smile; it lit up her whole face. "Okay let's try this again, from the top." She sat back down on the bed and started tugging the lace again. "why would you be sorry for trying to take a bite out of me?"

"Because it was rude, and wrong, and uncalled for, and it scared you and I don't ever want to scare you." Her little pink tongue was poking out of the corner of her mouth again. She really had to stop that.

"That's stupid," I could feel her frustration over the lace, she got up suddenly and walked to the small desk that was against the wall facing the end of her bed. She stared rummaging through the drawers. "Don't ever apologize for your natural instincts. You can't control that sort of thing. Not to mention, with your whole empath thing, you felt Edwards hunger on top of your own. I'm sure that made it even worse. So don't be stupid, and stop beating yourself up over, because I refuse to have this conversation with you all over again in a few days when you let the guilt eat at you. Aha!" she closed the drawer and went back to the be with a pair of large silver scissors.

She was absolutely fucking amazing. She'd meant every word that she'd just said. Her sincerity just oozed all over me, and I couldn't help but do as she'd said. It was like she'd just waved a magic wand over me and all the guilt I'd been feeling was just gone.

She sat with her tongue peeking out again, struggling to handle the huge scissors in her hand. She so did not need those. With her range of dexterity she would most definitely cut off a finger. I'd arrived outside her house just time to hear her stumble on the way upstairs. The girl was a disaster when she moved. There was no telling how many bumps bruises and scars she had.

I crouched down onto the balls of my feet and took the scissors from her. She didn't fight me. "So, tell me how you met Pete and Char." I put her foot up on my knee and began working the knot out for her.

"Haven't you called Peter yet?" her voice was a little breathy now, her heart beat sped up a little, but she wasn't afraid. She was radiating excitement. What a strange, strange little creature.

"No I wanted to hunt before we saw you again, so the urge wouldn't be quite so bad." I was still pulling the knot out. I could have had both shoes undone my now but I found myself wanting to slow everything down, like I wanted to prolong the moment.

She didn't seem to notice, she just launched into her story. " Well, like a year and a half ago got held after school by this evil little witch of a teacher for accidently tripping and taking her down with me in the hall. She said I'd done it on purpose to make the other students laugh at her. Self-important old bitch!" she snapped, "Like any one would care enough about her to want to embarrass her. " I slid the first boot off and then her sock, I lifted her pant leg and examined the spot where she'd hit it on the stare.

Yup there was already a bruise. And I was right she had several scars on her calf from various accidents. Her skin was as soft as I had imagined it to be under my finders as I examined. I pushed the pant let back down, just a bruise, she'd be fine. Her breath had caught when I'd touched her bare skin with mine. Desire was seeping out, but she was trying to hold it in.

She started breathing again when I put her foot down and placed the other on my knee to work on its laces. How the hell had she gotten them so tangled?

She continued with her story. "Anyway, by the time she let me go I'd missed my ride and wound up having to walk home, and it's not a short walk." I was pretty sure I didn't like the direction this story just took. "When ji was about a quart of the way there, a guy I knew from school pulled up next to me and asked if I wanted a ride. I mean, well, I knew who he was, but we weren't friends or anything." I knew I didn't like the direction the story was taking. "He was on the football team. So we're driving, we're like half way to my house, and I tell him where to turn, but he just keeps on driving. I didn't start freaking out at first, I just thought he'd missed it or didn't hear me. But when I told him we needed to turn around he just kept going. I started yelling at him to stop and everything but he just kept going. He drove to a spot almost out in the desert that the kids used as a make out spot." She stopped and took a deep breath.

She was uncomfortable now. She squirmed and fidgeted her fingers in her lap. I slid her boot off, and then the sock. I inspected her shin and calf like I'd don't to the other one. I knew she had only hit the one but I wanted to touch her skin again. Scars there to, not as many as I had, but still a fair few for a human.

I put her foot down and moved away from her a little just in case my closeness was adding to her discomfort. "You don't have to tell me that part if you don't want darlin'" I just wanted to sooth her, make her feel safe.

"Oh, no it's okay. He never got the chance to really do any harm. When he stopped the car I tried to get out but his car was one of those old ones, where when you lock the doors you can't open it from the inside either. Anyway he leaned towards me and said he wanted payment for my ride home, and I punched him. I hurt my knuckles to. Anyway, when he came back at me he grabbed my hair and rammed my face into his dash. I only saw stars for a second. Then something ripped his driver's side door completely off," she gave a little chuckle, "He screamed like a little girl. He kept screaming to when something reached in and yanked him out of the car. I could hear him in the distance, could hear the gurgling sound he made when just before the screaming quit. I closed my eyes tight and prayed that whatever it was would be satisfied with him. "She chuckled again. "But come it's me, right? With my luck there was no way it wasn't coming back for me. I waited, and waited, but it didn't reach and grab me. When I opened my eyes Peter was there. He was just sitting in the driver's seat staring at me. "How ya' holdin' up little bit?" "She imitated Peter's accent, it was cute. "He scooped me up, took me to their ranch and introduced me to Charlotte. He told me what they were and promised they only fed on scum like the guy who'd attacked me. It's strange I don't even feel bad that he's gone. I'm happy Peter drank him. Charlotte went back to the scene and made it look like a car accident. They had a memorial for him at the school and everything. He didn't deserve a memorial. I wondered the whole time I stood there looking at his picture in the auditorium, and I wondered how many other girl were sitting there to that this monster had gotten ahold of. That Peter hadn't been there to save." She was sad then, not for the boy, but for the other girls. "So that's it." she chirped her mood suddenly shifting into a cheery one. "He saved me and the three of us were together ever since, or at least until I came here. I miss them though. Hey! Thanks for helping with my shoe laces; it would have sucked to have had to go to school tomorrow with no laces."

I just stared at her. She was so resilient, bouncing back from the horrible memory so quickly. Her emotions shifting and changing so quickly, it was a little unnerving. Was that what it was like to be human? I wondered trying to remember what it had been like when I was human. No I was betting it was more of a Bella trait then something all humans did.

She got up and started moving around the room pulling clothes out of her dresser, then moving to her closet to do the same. She was pulling out night clothes and laying out her clothes for the next day. "Why were you talking to me like you thought I should be riding a short bus to school tomorrow?"

I didn't get a chance to answer her. I could feel his anger and fear from here. Either Emmett jumped the gun and went home early, which was more than possible. He had no patience. Or Alice had seen it, and then Edward had seen it while he was poking around in her head without permission.

Either way, he was pissed and on his way.

Alright ya'll here's chapter 6

I hope you guys enjoy it.

Number 7 coming as shortly as I can manage it.

Feel free to comment.


	7. Chapter 7

As always I own nothing and this is for funzies.

Chapter 7

I ran as fast as I could. What the hell was he doing? Why was he there alone with her? What if he hurt her, what if he lost control and drained her. I had to move faster, I had to protect her from him. She must be so scared.

But when I there I heard her laughing. What the hell? He was in her room with her, alone with her, and she was laughing. That scumbag he was seducing her! He was married to my sister! I wanted to rip his head off. I wanted to burn him alive! I wanted to know what the hell was going on in that room.

This whole not being able to hear her and not being able to real the others when they were with her were so unnerving and inconvenient. I settled for standing on a branch outside the window and peeking in. I still wasn't sure what was going on. Jasper wasn't seducing her. He wasn't doing anything. He was just sitting crouching on the floor listening to her talk. She was walking around the room taking clothes form her dresser and closet.

They were acting like old friends together. They seemed utterly at peace in each other's company. "Why were you talking to me like you thought I should be riding a short bus to school tomorrow?" she asked. Wait, what?

I couldn't stand it; I had to know what the hell she was talking about. Without thinking about it my body was already in action and I was flitting threw her window.

"What the hell man! Don't any of you call first, or even knock." She was angry that I was here. "I mean really is there a sign out there that says 'Open Mic Night at Bella's'?" Jasper chuckled at her still crouched down, his elbows resting on his knees and his fingers laced together in front of him, the picture of calm and comfort.

I was so beyond confuse at this point. Being without my gift was too hard. I relied on it all the time. Not having now, made me feel like I'd lost an appendage. It made me want to run from the room now and not come back. She was doing this to me. She was taking my gift from me.

I looked at her then as she stared at me waiting for me to answer. I fell into her gaze. I could stand right here for the rest of my existence and just start into her eyes, gifts be damned. She was so beautiful, and so fragile.

Wait, what? Was she talking to me? Focus idiot!

"hello? Earth to Edward, is any one in there?"

"What?" Jasper chuckled at me again. If he kept it up I was going to throw him threw the window.

"I asked you what you were doing here." She seemed to getting agitated with our presence. I looked at the clothes in her arms and realized she was preparing for bed, and sitting clothes out for the next day. We were disturbing her routine.

"I uh, well, um. I just wanted," I'm a babbling idiot.

Bella's POV

"You just wanted to what Edward?" Jasper rose from his crouched position and placed his hand behind his back. I knew he was just trying to aggravate Edward.

"Well I just wanted to apologize for this afternoon." He said to me, ignoring Jasper entirely.

"Uh! Not you to!" I didn't want to go through all this again. "Look, like I told Jasper already, what you guys did was instinctual. Don't say you're sorry for what come natural it's just stupid." I just wanted to take my shower and go to bed, and here I was having the same conversation with a different vampire.

Edward turned toward Jasper now. "Your came here to apologize?" he sounded surprised.

"Of course. What the hell did think I came here..." he trailed off. He looked angry now, and it seemed to be leaking out into me. I was getting irritated. I wanted them out of here.

"You sanctimonious ass! Like I would come here just to hurt her!" Jasper spat at him

"Well you did attack her earlier today, or did you just forget that?" Edward spat back.

"Okay guys take it outside; my dad is going to hear you." Neither of them seemed to hear me.

"So did you!" Jasper took a step towards Edward.

"Really guys, I'm serious."

"That was an accident!" Edward took a step toward Jasper. One more step and they'd be chest to chest.

"Is anyone listening to me here?"

"Oh and what me doing it wasn't?" Jasper looked livid.

"I just really want to go to sleep here guys."

"Well it's not like it was the first time you've ever lost control!"

"That's a low fucking blow" Jasper took the last step they were bumping chests.

"Oh fuck it!" I no longer cared what they did I just wanted my shower and my bed. I sat my outfit for the next day and my pajamas down on the rocking chair in the corner and I unbuttoned the blue and grey flannel shirt I'd worn to school and tossed it into the hamper. Then I pulled my black tank top over my head and tossed it in the same direction. As I stood in my bra and started unbuttoning my jeans I realized the arguing had stopped. I turned and they were both staring open mouthed at me.

"What?" I barked at them.

"What are you doing?" Edward asked in a voice that was an octave higher than his normal.

"I told you I wanted to take my shower and go to bed, and the two of you ignored me and kept right on fighting like an old married couple. So I'm getting ready for the shower. If you don't want to see then turn around. "They both did so fast it was like they'd already been turned that way.

"Why wouldn't you just undress in the bathroom?" Edward asked in an exasperated tone.

"Hey!" I snapped at him. "I'm pretty sure this is my house and I'll get undressed in any room I want. Besides the bathroom here is tiny, and with my balance and dexterity, I'd fall trying to get my jeans off and break my neck on the sink. I need a nice wide open space to do my falling. Cuts down on the damage.

It got mostly quiet then as I finished undressing and pulled on my robe. I could still hear whispers coming from them. I crept up behind them as quietly as I could to listen in.

"I think it's a slaughter bunny." Edward said.

"It's clearly a kitten," Jasper replied. "But I agree someone slaughtered it."

They were both standing with their heads slightly tilted, studying a picture hanging on the dart board that I'd finger painted years ago. I popped them both in the back of the head. "It's a baboon. But how fitting that you should both focus in on that on." And I left for my shower.

Chapter 7 please enjoy.

Sorry for any mistakes I'm barely awake at this point.

Please feel free to review and comment.


	8. Chapter 8

As always I own nothing its all for funzies.

Chapter 8

Jasper's POV

"What the hell just happened here?" Edward asked as we both stared dumbfounded at the door the small human girl had just left through, mumbling something about sparkly asses, our argument forgotten for the moment in the confusion, mystery, and just flat out bizarreness that was Bella Swan.

I knew exactly how he felt, and not just because I really _knew_ how he felt either. I felt just like he did the girl threw curve balls at every turn, doing outrageous things, she wasn't scared of anything. Well except being eaten, but even that didn't seem to bother her until it was right in her face and she couldn't deny that it was about to happen.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think a tiny human woman who has trouble staying on her own two feet for more than five minutes at a time just successfully managed to stun two supposed scary vampires speechless, scold them, assault them, and then simple walk out of the room like we didn't really concern her." I told.

"Huh, yup, that's what I though just happened." Now that she was gone he was recovering quickly. I could feel his anger rising again, prickling along my skin. "Seriously what are you doing here?" he growled at me.

"I already told you I came to apologize for my actions today." Why wouldn't he believe me?

"You really weren't trying to seduce her?"

"What!? No what the hell would give you that idea?" the man was ridiculous.

"I heard your thoughts earlier. You are lusting after that poor girl." He accused me poking his finger against my chest. "And in case you've forgotten you have a wife!"

I shoved him back away from me, "I haven't forgotten anything! And yeah I think she's attractive. Are you trying to tell me you don't?"

"Of course I do. But I'm not married!"

"What the hell is your problem man? This isn't the first time you've heard lusty thoughts in my head, I've never acted on them, ever! I might be a vampire but I'm still a man, I'm going to notice pretty women, but I love Alice! We've been together for over fifty years and I've never strayed why would you think I'd start now? Damnit man, I've known you since just after Alice and I got together, why are you freaking out about this?" I wasn't completely stupid I knew why he was acting like this. I felt the way his emotions shift and swirl every time the girl looked in his direction. I just wanted him to admit it, because I was pretty sure he didn't know why he was acting this way yet.

He thought hard for a few moments, fighting with his emotions and whatever was going on in that oversized brain of his. "I don't know." He finally said. "I'm sorry, it's just every time she gets near me I feel so….I doesn't know what the hell I feel, but I just want to make her safe and take care of her, and I'm sorry. You're right I shouldn't take it out on you because the girl is making me insane." He put his hand on my shoulder.

I bumped my fist lightly against his shoulder, all was forgiven for now. I was still pissed that he had no faith in me what so ever to keep my hunger in check, but I wouldn't harp on it. I was trying harder, I was working on being around humans more to build up my tolerance to the smell of the blood running just under their thin layers of skin.

I cut that thought off. Thinking like that was a sure way to encourage the hunger to creep forward. I wasn't so bad though since I'd over fed tonight. "Alright man I'm going to take off, I need to get home to my wife, and I need to give Peter a call and see what the whole story is."

"Hey, did she ever tell you how she knew Peter?" it really urked him having to ask. I smiled and didn't answer; I just let the story flow through my mind so he could read it. He couldn't pull it out of her head like he would normally; pulling it out of mine would make him feel a little more like himself. "Thanks," he smiled at me weakly but growled when he got to the part of the story about her attacker. And then looked confused again when he when he got to the end of my conversation with her. "She really doesn't care that Peter killed that boy does she?"

"She's definitely an odd duck that one." I told him. I put my fist out to him and he bumped his to it. "I'll see you at home, you staying here for a bit?"

"I don't know yet," he was conflicted.

"You're 111 years old and you're scared to be alone in a room with a teenage girl." I laughed at him. "Don't hurt yourself bro." I flitted out the window and left him to make his decision. I wanted him to leave. I didn't know why but I really didn't want to leave her alone with him.

I wanted to go back; I wanted to keep talking with her. I wanted to know more about her. But I did have to get back to my wife. I felt guilty now. She'd been acting so distant earlier, and her emotions were everywhere. I should have held off on hunting and coming to talk to Bella before I made sure my sweet pixie was ok.

I raced back to the house my guilt hanging heavy, as worried as I was about my wife, I still couldn't get the girl out of my head.

Bella's POV

"Stupid, sparkly assed, vampires!" I grumbled as I shut the door. I didn't know if they actually had sparkly asses, having never seen one naked, but I had seen Peter shirtless once and he'd been sparkly all over in the sun light so I assumed they were sparkly all the way down.

I was so irritated that the two of them had decided to use my room to air out all their differences. On a normal basis I wouldn't give a damn, but it was almost eleven thirty at night and I was physically and mentally exhausted from today's adventures.

Once I was out of range of Jaspers anger, I felt the heat flood to my face. Oh my god! I'd just stripped down in front of two men I'd just met! Tactless and straight forward as I was I'd never ever gotten naked in front of any one. I was pretty sure it had been Jaspers anger mingled with my own that had made me so careless. Oh well, there was nothing to do for it now. They all thought I was crazy any way. Maybe they'd just equate this with their assumption.

I'd had to bring my night clothes with me to dress in the tiny bathroom, in case they were still there when I was done. If I fell and broke my next I was going to come back and haunt them for the rest of their lives. I had to laugh about that as I turned the water on to heat up. Vampires lived a very long time; I began imagining an endless game of poke the vampire and never having to worry about them being able to retaliate since I'd be a ghost.

Once the water was hot enough I lost the robe and stepped under the hot spray. I hadn't realized how cold I'd been until the warm water hit me. It made since though, there were two giant blocks of ice standing in the middle of my room and my window seemed to be like a revolving door tonight. I hoped that the rest of them didn't decide to show up before I could get the other two out. I was pretty sure if Emmett crawled through the widow we'd have to call the fire department to get him unwedged. Even if he did manage to get through the window somehow, I was pretty sure with his huge mass coupled with the others, my poor room would fall through into our kitchen.

After all my muscles relaxed under the stream of heat, most of my embarrassment eased away with them. I washed up quickly, brushed my teeth, dressed as carefully as I could, and headed back out to my room towel drying my hair. Yay! I thought I didn't hurt myself, and then cursed as I stubbed my toe on the way into my room.

My light was off as I entered, I didn't bother turning on, I could see pretty well just from the moon light streaming through the window. I was surprised it was clear enough for moonlight. No large hot guy sized shadows lurking around anywhere.

I tossed my white fluffy robe and towel over in the corner where my rocking chair sat. it was the only part of the room still to dark to really see, but I knew pretty much where the chair was.

"Why are you throwing your laundry in my face?" I didn't scream, or let out a little yelp like I had earlier when Jasper had startled me. It couldn't be a good sign that I was already going accustom to vampires lurking around my room at night.

"Sorry didn't see you there." He stood and scooted my rocker forward into the light and sat back down. He did it slowly, human speed, and watched me the whole time like he was afraid he'd spook me. The embarrassment crept back in seeing him there. "Where's the other one?" I didn't think I could take having to deal with both of them again with a beat red face.

He didn't look happy at the question. "He's married you know."

"Yeah I kind of gathered that much thanks." If they were mates of course they'd be married. Why would you live forever together and never get married? Hell when you were together that long commitment issues were just stupid. "I just figured you'd have left with him"

"He went home to call Peter, and to check on Alice." He sat leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his fingers laced together. He looked like a Greek God. He was so out of place in my shabby old room with my old toys all over the place.

I got self-conscious then at that thought. It was embarrassing to have him here with all these childish things all over the place. Damn! Why couldn't have noticed them next week, then it would have given me time to redecorate.

He noticed my discomfort, how could he not notice it he was staring at me. That though brought on a whole new set of self-consciousness. I was in front of this beautiful creature wearing an old pair of Phil's sweats that I'd cut off just below the knee and an old ratty band t-shirt that I'd had since I was like thirteen.

"Would you like for me to leave?" He made no move to leave though; he was waiting for my response.

No! Sure I'd been all set for them to beat it a few minutes ago, but now that I was really fixing to crawl into the bed, I missed being able to talk with Peter or Charlotte as I dosed off, or having Charlotte sing me into such beautiful dreams. Last night had been horrible. It had rained all night and it was like I could hear every drop hit the old roof, the wind had whistled outside the window, and what little sleep I had gotten had been nightmare filled.

But I couldn't bring myself to ask him to stay. I didn't know him well enough for that. I didn't know if we would even be friends yet. I moved to my bed and sat down pulling my covers up over my lap, and faced him. "Do you want to go?" I asked.

"Am I making you uncomfortable my being here?"

"Do I look uncomfortable?"

"Why are you answering all my questions with questions?"

"Why are you?"

He laughed then, a low chuckle that filled the room. I liked it; it was a nice sound, much better than the growl. "I'm not uncomfortable." I finally relented. "But why are you still here? I already forgave you."

He looked uncomfortable with the question. I wasn't sure why, it wasn't like it was a hard question. "Are you going to answer me, or do you want me to go get Charlie's gun and force the information out of you?"

He laughed again. "I don't know." He said in a small voice.

"Well it's not really a hard concept to grasp. Here we'll take this slow. Are you here to kill me?"

"No!" his answer was immediate.

"Are you here to steal my underwear out of my drawers while I sleep? If you are please don't, I hate to shop and I don't want to have to go get more."

"I don't know why I'm here!" he snapped, standing up and began pacing my room as he ranted. "You're an infuriating, strange, women and I don't understand anything you do or say! On top of that I can't read your mind to figure out why you do the things you're doing. Every time you I'm in a room with you my emotions start flying all over the place. I find myself angry about not being able to understand you, happy that you're just there in front of me to look at, and a whole mess of other things that I don't understand. If I was smart I'd go back out through the window and never see you again. But the thought of never seeing you again is painful for some reason, I want to know you. I want to know what things you like, what you dislike. I want to protect you from anyone who might want to harm you. The thought of anything or anyone harming you scares me and infuriates me. And now, right now I want to know if your skin and lips would feel as soft as they look right now under my own lips and fingers!" he seemed to catch himself then looking stunned that he'd just admitted to all of that.

"Ok," was all I could think to say?

What was I doing? I'd been having big lusties over his brother earlier, now here I was agreeing for this guy to kiss me just to see if my lips were soft. I went over it in my mind quickly. I had to push Jasper out of my head as anything other than a friend anyway. He was married and I wasn't the type to be a home wrecker. Edward was good looking, and I'd entertained one or two lusties for him to. Why not let him kiss me? I was a teenager, it was time to start acting like one every once in a while. And wasn't this what teenagers did? They took chances, letting their hearts and hormones run the show. I'd been pretty reckless all day. What did I really have to loose, other than my life if he wasn't careful enough?

"I, I don't know." He said but taking a few steps toward the bed. "What if I hurt you?" his voice was low, almost a whisper. He was really scared. It was sweet.

I however was tactless. "Who the hell cares about what if? If you want to know, then find out. Stop being such a scared baby."

"I'm not scared!" he sounded like a little kid yelling "Nuh uh," at another child.

I arched my brow at him with an o'really look. "Then what are you waiting for?"

He was sitting in front of me on the bed before I had time to blink. My heart sped up. All my nerve flew out the window. Other than a quick peck on the cheek at the end of one of the only two dates I'd ever been on and a really uncomfortable kiss I'd shared with Jake before I'd introduced him to my vampires, I'd never really been kissed before.

I gave him a shy smile, he returned it. Surely he'd done this before, because if not I was pretty sure we were in trouble. He brought his hand up slowly and placed it on my cheek gently. I jerked just slightly in reaction to his icy skin. "Please don't move I don't want to take a chance on hurting you." I gave him a quick small nod. His thumb moved back and forth on my cheek. The coldness of his skin wasn't quite so bad when the heat shot to my cheeks as he stared so intensely into my eyes. "Please don't move." He whispered and put his other hand on my other cheek. His sweet breath on my face made me want to lean in further, but I held myself in place. A rush of excitement ran threw me as he leaned forward slowly, touching his lips to mine. I thought my heart would leap out of my chest and fly around the room.

His lips were just as cold as his hands, but again the rush of blood to my face was making it feel nice, soothing, as his lips moved on mine. The kiss was sweet, and chaste, just a light touch. He pulled back for just a second, when he moved back in for a second kiss. As my hands moved up and circled around his neck, he broke the kiss and pulled away from me. He was across the room sitting back in the chair like he'd never even been on the bed.

"I asked you to be still." He smiled at me.

"Oh," I said my voice breathy, I was light headed and my heart was still thumping away in my chest. "Sorry."

"Silly Bella." He said standing and walking to the window. "I'll see you for school tomorrow." He opened the window, and turned back to me smiling broadly. His smile was breath taking.

"Hey wait," I said, as the blood flow came back to my brain. "What's the verdict?"

"Softer." And then my window was closed and I was alone.

I curled up under my blankets; I couldn't get the stupid smile off my face. My first kiss was awesome. As I drifted in and out for a little while I kept thing about Edward. How would we handle the next day? He wasn't like me, he was probably pretty old. He wouldn't have the same hang ups as me. He probably wasn't wondering if this meant we were dating now. This would have just been a kiss to him, right? But then again the way he'd been talking about me before the kiss I was pretty sure he was more than interested in me. I wouldn't push the subject. I'd just let him proceed however he wanted.

My phone rang just as I started to drift off. I picked it up already knowing who it was. "Hey Cher." I yawned into the phone.

"Sorry baby," she said with laugh. "I was out hunting and I let the time slip away."

"Its ok mamma," I debated whether to tell her. "I just got to lay down a few minute ago any way. My window's been busy tonight."

"I figured it might be. So what do ya think of em'?"

"Well, Alice has already claimed me as her friend, but she was a little pushy and creepy with it." I told her tying to recall my afternoon with the Cullen/Hale family.

"Yeah, she's is a pushy self-assured little thing." I got the idea Charlotte didn't approve of Alice. I wouldn't ask her about it now. I was too tired to get into all that.

"Rosalie is a pushy bitch, but I think it's just because she's worried about their safety, ya know. It can't be easy having a human ambush you with your biggest secret. Emmett is great, I think I'll get along with him easily." Hmm, then there were they hotties.

"What about Edward and Jasper? How do ya like them?" she wasn't going to let me leave them out.

"I like them. They were the two here tonight. First Jasper, he just wanted to say he was sorry for taking a snap at me today."

"HE WHAT!?" her screech hurt my ear.

"It's ok it was just an accident, and I'm fine really. Not a scratch on me." Well except the ones I'd inflicted on myself, in my ever continuing battle with the evil monster known as gravity. I yawned again. "Any way, Edward showed up after Jasper and they argued a little. I'm not really sure about what. Then I took my shower and Edward stayed to talk for a little bit," just tell her you coward, "then he kissed me and left."

She made a high pitch surprised noise. I laughed. "How did it happen, did ya like it? Did he get fresh with ya?"

The questions just kept coming. "Listen Char, I'm dead tired, I'll tell about it tomorrow."

"Okay sweet dreams honey." She had her mother voice back on now. "And ya keep that window lock for the rest of the night, ya hear?

I assured her I would, and we hung up. I loved her so much. I

I snuggled back down into the bed getting comfortable. My mind drifted again for a little while. I thought about the kiss. I thought about how the others would react if he told them about it. I dreaded the joyous humor Emmett would get out of giving me a hard time about it. I was glad that Edward was acting as a distraction from my interest in Jasper.

But as I drifted off finally I found my last though was wondering if Jasper was a better kisser than Edward.

Jasper's POV

I was sitting in my study irritated as hell. When I'd finally been able to push the last thought of Bella out of my head I'd gone to find Alice.

I found flitting around her cavernous closet putting clothes into suitcases. "Are we going somewhere baby?" I tried to get hold of her to kiss her, but she kept moving quickly around the closet staying just out of my reach.

"I had a vision of a trip." Was all she said.

I looked at the bags. They were two fairly large cases and she had them filled to the brim, and not of the clothes were mine. "Am I packin' my own bag this time then?" I smiled at her. Usually she packed my bags when we went on trips. She hated the clothes I would pick. I didn't really care what I wore and it seemed to make her happy when I wore what she chose.

"I didn't see you there." She moved to grab her shoe case and started filling it. I looked back at the bags again. It was a lot of clothes.

"How long is this trip gunna be?" We never went more than a day or two without each other if we could help it.

"I don't know." She was still flitting around.

"Well when are ya leavin'"

"I don't know." She was purposely trying to ignore me.

I caught her by elbow on the way by. Maybe Edward had said something to her about me thinking the girl was pretty. "Alice, talk ta me."

She just looked at me for a moment, her emotions conflicted. Love, pity, and sorrow riding high. Love won out and she turned to me then. She put her hands on my cheeks, stood on her tip toes and gave me a quick peck. Then her mood shifted again, she was annoyed. "I don't know when I'm leaving, it could be a month from now, and it could be tomorrow. But I know I have to be prepared. Now get out of here and let me finish." With that she was gone, packing a back with makeup and hair products.

"Well why am I not goin' with ya?" she just pointed her finger at me letting me know she wasn't going to answer me.

I did as she said and left her to it. I knew better to hound her about it. Once she'd decided that she wasn't going to tell me something there was no budging her. but I was still pissed, I'd just pack me a bag and when she left I'm follow . No. that wouldn't work. She'd seen me following just now when I'd decided to and she was probably already making contingency plans to ditch me.

As I made my way to my study, I passed Edward just getting back from Bella's. The jerk had a big goofy shit eatin' grin on his face, he was radiating pure bliss, and was looking off into space wistfully. I wondered what he'd been up to with the girl.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He chuckled with just a little venom behind his comment. He was still a little mad about this afternoon even though he'd already forgiven me.

I growled and slammed the door to my study so hard I cracked the frame. Shit! Now Esme was going to be pissed at me to. She'd just had the door replace from the last time me and Emmett had been rough housing in side. I'd thrown him into it and it had shattered.

I sat at my desk and picked up the phone to call Peter, he picked up on the first ring. "Yup,"

"Captain report." I barked through the phone.

"Oh Major, ya know I love it when ya skip the foreplay." He was laughing at me.

"I'm sorry, it's just been a bad day." I shouldn't take this out on him. Wait, yes I should. He hadn't warned us that she was coming, or that he expected us to look after her. "Why didn't ya call about her?"

"Because you had to meet her and found out like that." Like that explained anything.

"Why?" I hated when he made me have to pull the info out of him. It always meant he wasn't going to tell me everything he knew, only what I asked for. And even then sometimes he would tell me he could tell me.

"Well think about it Major. If I'd have called you told you she was coming and asked you to look after her, you would have. "

"Ya ain't making since!" I snapped at him.

"If ya did what I asked ya to none of ya would lover her the way ya do right now. You woulda just met her at the airport to familiarize yourselves and her with each other and the just took post up outside her house to watch her. None of ya woulda taken the time to get to know her, or how wonderful she really is. She don't need body guard Major, she needs a family." Damn it! He was right.

"She has a mother, and a father, and a step farther what's she need us for?" I understood what he was telling me but I still didn't fully understand.

"She needs someone who can protect her and love her. She needs family that's a little more durable."

"Okay then what are we protecting her from?" I really wanted him to get to the point so I could go argue with my wife.

"I don't know." He was all he said.

"Bullshit."

"I swear Major. All I know is that she had to leave Phoenix and that she's gotta be with ya'll, if she stayed here she died. "He sounded heart broken when he said it. "The big bad ain't on the horizon just yet, so don't start stressing. She may just need to be protected from herself. "

I felt a little sick at the thought of her dying. Dumbass, I scolded myself, vampires don't get sick. But I still felt uneasy with a knot in my stomach when I thought of her gone. "How do ya know all this?"

"Now Major ya know I don't know how I know, I just know." He laughed. It was true to. Peter's gift was odd. He didn't have visions, or read minds. He just knew things. There was no other way to explain it. He would just tell us something had to be done or we needed to go here or there, when we would ask him why or how he knew he would always say his knower just felt it. I'd never known him to be wrong either.

"Alright Captain, I'll make sure she's safe." I sighed. I started going over

"Know ya will Major." He was quiet for a minute. "She'll be okay tonight, my don't ya go see if you can get that evil little pixie ta let ya bend her over and spanker her." fat chance of that I thought bitterly.

"Is there anything else I need ta know?" might as well get all the information I could now.

"Yeah, the little minx is friends with the wolves down up in your area. They don't pose her a threat but I didn't want ya to be surprised by that one. You won't be able to keep her away from em' so don't try. She's head strong and stubborn. Try not ta back her into any corners or give her ultimatums, she'll run. " What the hell! Was she friends with every monster between here and the equator or what?

"She don't got a pet yeti or anything right?" better to ask now.

"No, nothing like that." He laughed. "Does she seem happy?" the laughter seeped away and he sounded genuinely concerned.

"Yeah Pete, she's okay. Don't worry I got this." He thanked me and promised he and Charlotte would be up for a visit as soon as they could manage it.

The girl was just busting out with surprises all over the place. Vampires, werewolves, I wouldn't be surprised if she knew Bigfoot at this point. How the hell had she survived this long in our world without being change? I kept trying to look at it from every angle; she had to be something more than human. But she wasn't she was just a girl. She was just Isabella. I was coming to understand very quickly that just being Isabella was something wondrous all on its own.

I was getting stressed again trying to figure out a patrol schedule, trying to come up with a way to get Rose to help watch the girl as well. She wasn't the most excepting of us. But maybe Bella could win her over. Hell she'd won over Peter. He wasn't an uncaring person, but he kept his distance as a general rule. If she could win Peter's affections she could win over any one.

I knew Emmett would happily help. Edward would be no problem either. He was so taken with the girl he was probably already thinking about china patterns. Carlisle and Esme would lover her instantly. They were so naturally caring and nurturing as it was. She could meet them tomorrow.

I'd got up and informed Carlisle that we'd have a guest tomorrow after school, he and Esme were only to happy and excited to prepare for her. Esme making out a grocery list so there would be food waiting for the little human. Both of them leaving soon after to hunt, but not until Esme scolded me. "You will replace that study door." She told me in a stern voice.

"Yes mam'." I looked don't at my feet in shame.

She tipped my chin up with her fingertips, "It's not a big deal, there are extra door in the garage. Keep those beautiful eyes up." She kissed me on the forehead and was gone.

It took me all of five minutes to replace the door. So I took

Peter's advice. I went looking for Alice again, but stormed out of the house in anger after she'd yelled at me. "Why can't you leave me alone I'm busy!"

I wasn't sure where I was going or what I was going to do, maybe hunt again, or just run till morning. I did run, but not for long. After about ten minute I found myself perched on a tree branch out side of Bella's room watching her sleep peacefully. I was content sitting there, almost as peaceful as she looked.

Okay there's chapter 8

I hope you all enjoy it.

Please don't hate me fore Edward. I do have a plan and it will be worth it.

Please review if you'd like.

Expect to see Jacob again soon. And a lot more Jasper Bella time coming up soon to.


	9. Chapter 9

As always just for funzies I own nothing.

Chapter 9

Bella's POV

I woke and stretched, I was still tired. I had tossed and turned a little through the night, I'd woken up once or twice with the weird feeling that someone was watching me. I had flipped on my lamp and there had been no one there, so I just pushed it off as paranoia since I'd been surprised by my two vampire visitors. I was apparently subconsciously worried I'd have more visitors.

I jumped up out of bed with a sudden burst of energy. I was excited and worried even through my tiredness to get dressed and rush to school. I was a little worried that they might have changed their minds and took off and moved out of town while I'd slept. Excited that if they didn't I was going to get to spend the day with my new friends.

I pulled my clothes on quickly dressing in a pair of dark skinny jeans and a thin black sweater that had a neon pink smiley face on it with vampire fangs that read BITE ME underneath it. If I got to see Emmett to day I knew he'd get a kick out of it even if the others didn't. Charlotte had bought it for me because I was constantly telling peter to bite me when he would get on my nerves. I grabbed a black and grey flannel shirt that I left unbuttoned over it. I decided to skip the bulky boots today and instead went with a pair of plain black vans with pink trim. I never really fixed my hair, just run a brush through it, maybe sometimes put it up in a messy pony tail if it was sticking all over the place. This morning it was fine with just a brushing, I put a pony tail holder around my wrist just in case I needed it later.

After I was done I rushed down stairs planning to just have a pop tart or a quick bowl of cereal, but sitting in the middle of the table was a plate with pancakes and few strips of bacon with a note beside it.

Bells,

I'll be late tonight, so don't worry about dinner. I'll just pick something up. Have a good day.

Love you

Dad

P.S.

Dinner was great last night.

The food was still warm. I ate quickly while I went over my homework one more time to make sure I hadn't made any mistakes, then I washed my dish, brushed my teeth. Just as I was putting everything in my bag to leave I heard a car horn.

I just ignored it at first thinking it had to be for someone else. Maybe some other kids on the street carpooling for school.

"Hey Bells! Get your scrawny butt out here we're going to be late!" Emmett's voice was loud even from all the way out side.

I raced to the door and stuck my head out. Park out front was their shiny little car. Edward smiled at me with his heart stopping crooked grin, as he leaned casually against the front fender. Alice was leaning against the back of the car, Jasper sat in the back seat slightly reclined back into the car with the door open one leg hanging out looking sexy as hell. No! Bad Bella! Emmitt jumped around excitedly on the other side of the car like a happy puppy. They all wore designer clothe, and looked like a page right out of a catalog.

I laughed and started to ask what they were doing here, but then Emmett was just suddenly in front of me, and before I could say hi he scooped me up and slung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and sprinted with me at vampire speed back to the car.

When he plunked me down my feet I felt a little woozy. "Oh, I think I'm going to barf." Jasper and Edward both were suddenly there next to me. Edward put an arm around me to steady me. Jasper seemed to be at a loss for what to do. He just stood there.

I felt it when he figured out what to do. A wave of soothing wave flowed over m, helping me to calm my nerves and settle my stomach much quicker. "Emmett! You have to be more careful with her!" Edward yelled at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think she would…" Emmett started but Edward cut him off.

"You never think! That's the problem! You just do and don't care about the outcome!" he continued to berate him. I didn't like that. I didn't like the sad ashamed look on Emmett's face. He hadn't meant to make me feel sick, and Edward was making him feel guilty for it.

"You stop that!" I pointed my finger into his chest hard; I'd probably have a bruise on the tip of my finger. "He didn't do anything wrong! He just got a little over excited and I wasn't completely prepared for it. That's not his fault!" Edward looked shocked at my outburst, the others all looked amused. "Who the hell are you to make him feel bad about being how he is? I like who he is! I like that he's spontaneous and happy! Don't you dare take that away from him?" I growled standing on my tip toes trying to get as close to his face as I could, trying in vain to be a little intimidating.

As I continued on my tirade, the shock left his face and it smoothed into a looked of amusement and understanding. That just made me madder. How dare he laugh at me when I was scolding him! Didn't he know he was supposed to be cowering under my glare? I spun on my heels and marched back in the direction of my front door.

"Bella, Bella, Bella." He whispered against the back of my hair as he caught me around the waist, pulling me back against his chest. "I'm sorry I didn't mean it." I made a scoffing noise at him. "Really Bella I promise. I was just worried about you. I'm sorry please forgive me?"

He turned me in his arms, holding me gently; he bent and placed his lips gently against mine. My body and brains turned to putty. I couldn't even remember what I'd been angry about for a second. But like the night before, when my arms moved to encircle his neck he pulled away. He didn't step back away from me but he made sure I was secure in his arms so I could pull him back down to me.

When my brain caught back up to me I remembered what I was supposed to be angry about. "It's not my forgiveness you should be asking for." I looked at him pointedly so he'd know he couldn't kiss his way out of apologizing to Emmett. "I know, why don't you get your things so we can get to school and I'll talk to him ok." He let go of me and said it like he wasn't going to leave any room for argument, but I managed it anyway.

"I have a truck thank you. I can drive myself." I slid my jacket on grabbed my bag and keys and headed out.

"Please?" he begged in a pitiful voice making me stop in my tracks. "Emmett was really looking forward to you riding with us, Alice to." He hit me with pleading look and a crooked smile that made my knees a little week. "Plus I've already upset Emmett once today; you wouldn't want to make it worse now would you." Stupid crafty vampire playing off my sympathies.

"Fine." I grumbled, and trudged locking it as soon as he followed me out. Secretly I thought it was sweet that he wanted to drive me to school.

"All better?" Alice chirp with a wicked little smile. Jasper started at her with a sad expression. I wondered what was going on. They'd looked pretty cozy yesterday at lunch. And he'd had no problem wrapping himself around her in the parking lot before they'd left.

Best not to pursue that train of thought. Not your business, they'll work it out on their own. "It will be after Edward does the right thing." I turned and looked at him and waited.

He flitted around the car in front of Emmett. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have scolded you. I know you didn't mean it. Please forgive me?"

Emmett looked, "I don't know man you really hurt my feelings." He mock pouted.

Edward looked over at me shooting me a "Do I have to?" look. I gave him a curt nod. "Okay, how about this weekend I find you a bear."

A bear what the hell did he wants a bear for? Maybe Emmett collected stuffed animals or something. "Deal!" Emmett was happy again. Well if it's that easy to please him I could gift all my old animals in my room.

We piled into the car, Emmett and Edward both insisting that I ride in front. It was funny to watch Emmett squeeze into the back beside Alice who sat in the center and Jasper next to the door. Actually Jasper was almost hugging the door to keep from touching Alice. Hmm, weird.

"Bella," Alice said as she leaned up between the front two seats and looked over what I was wearing. "Would you like to go shopping this weekend?"

I looked down at what I was wearing again. Well hell I thought I looked good. I looked back at Alice in her tight, designer jeans and the bohemian looking top she was wearing and started to feel self-conscious. Maybe I should have tried a little harder on my clothes if I was going to be hanging with the local vamps.

"Bella doesn't enjoy shopping Alice." Edward to her smiling at me. I blushed remembering my joke about my underwear.

"Oh pish posh! What girl doesn't love shopping, she'll…"

"I like your shirt Bella where did ya get that?" Jasper asked over Alice cutting her off.

Alice sat back and crossed her arms over her chest looking miffed. "Um, I don't really know. Charlotte got it for me. I kept telling Peter to bite me when he would get on my nerves. She said this way I wouldn't have to say it so much I could just point to the shirt. She got me a tank top in neon green and a short sleeved shirt just like it in purple." Jasper smiled, it was beautiful.

Emmett popped his head over the back of my seat and looked down at the shirt, blocking my view form Jasper. "Hell yeah I love that Bella!" he laughed.

Alice huffed. I was pretty sure that whatever distaste I'd heard in Charlotte's voice last night was mutual for Alice.

"What are your plans for this evening Bella?" Edward asked stealing my attention.

"Oh um, I was just going to do some homework and then a whole lot of nothing. Why?" I was a little scared of what he might suggest.

"Our parents would like to meet you this evening."

"What, why?" I hated meeting my human friend's parents back in phoenix much less a set of vampire parents. At least with the human parents if they didn't like you they would just ask you to leave. With vampires you just didn't know how they would react.

"They want to meet the girl who's already won over their five vampire children so completely already." He smiled at me.

Five children? Five. Hey where was the blonde prima donna? I turned in the seat and looked at Emmett. "Where is your chickadee?"

He looked a little sad. "She didn't want to ride with us today."

"Because of me?"

"Don't sweat it Bells she'll come around." He said giving me a week smile. Tomorrow I'd drive my truck; I didn't want to break up a family over a damn car ride.

"Why didn't you ride with her?" surely he was in her corner if they were mates.

He was back to his normal smiling face again. "Oh she doesn't like an audience when she's trying to dig a bug out of her ass." There was no way not to be happy and laughing around Emmett.

"So, will you come tonight?" Edward asked as we pulled into the school parking lot. I couldn't believe we were already here. They'd distracted me and I hadn't noticed we'd been speeding until now.

"I guess, but what if they don't like me?" I wasn't so much afraid that they'd eat me or anything, but what if they took their children away from me. I was already so attached to them after only one day. But I guess it was better to do it now before I did get any more involved.

"They'll love ya." Jasper comforted as Edward parked.

"Okay. But I have to make sure its ok with Charlie first." Maybe he'd say I had to wait until he talked to them before I could go over to their house. Doubtful though. He'd already said he liked the good Dr..

I sent Charlie a quick text; he'd answer me when he got a chance. Edward came around to my side of the car and opened my door for me. I got out and walked with them around the school to an area with picnic tables that was covered with a metal roof. There were lots of students standing around in groups talking and laughing as they waited for the first bell. Edward walked close to me with his hand resting on the small of my back.

My face heated up when I noticed people staring worse than they had the day before. "Why are people starting?" I asked ducking my head.

Edward tipped my chin up with his hand as we walked and gave me a quick peck, making sure to tighten his arm around the back of me in case it made me stumble. "Because they are jealous that we get you and they don't." I heard several girls gasp as they saw him kiss me. My face was now surely as red as it could go.

"I'll see you later." I squeaked out and pulled away from him, I turned to walk towards the door to the school. I could just go hide in the library or something until school started.

"No you don't!" Emmett scooped me up again tossing me back over his should. I let out a very girly squeal and my bag went flying. I hoped someone caught it and it didn't spill. "Where you think you're going little mouse?"

"Emmett! Put me down! What are you doing?" He started running at a fast human pace, but I couldn't see where he was going.

"Emmett put her down!" Edward was chasing after us now, also at a human pace. He reached out and grabbed Emmett by the shoulder trying to stop him.

"Hey Jaz, catch!" Emmett yelled and swung me forward cradling me in his arms for a split second before he tossed me straight up.

As I came back down all I could do was scream "No! No! No! Nooo!" I shut my eyes tight and waited for the pain to rush through me as I hit the ground.

But instead someone caught me. I opened my eyes and Jasper had ahold of me. He was running from Edward now to. I wrapped my arm tightly around his neck so he couldn't throw me again. He laughed and the sound of it mixed with the utter joy that was seeping out into me was like someone tickling me and I had to laugh to.

"Jasper be careful! Don't drop her!" I looked over Jaspers shoulder to see Edward reaching out to grab him.

"Hey Emmett! Heads up!" He spun around and side stepped Edward easily, then handed me back off to Emmett again.

"Stop this now!" it was the principal Mr. Greene. "Before someone gets hurt!"

Emmett stopped running with me and carried me over to one of the picnic tables and sat me down the bench seat. They all began mumbling apologies to Mr. Greene. He looked at them sternly and then walk off back into the school.

I was still smiling when they joined me at the table, until I noticed who I was sitting next to. Rosalie stared at me annoyed. Looks like she hadn't gotten the bug out after all. I just started back at her trying to mock the same annoyed glare. Emmett sat down next to her straddling the bench and pulling her close to him. She immediately stopped glaring and turned all her attention to him. She laced her fingers with his and kissed him maybe just a little too passionately for a school court yard. "That wasn't very smart Emmett." She told him quietly with her forehead resting against his. "Human's don't play keep away using another human as their ball." If I could like her for no other reason, I could like her for her utter apparent love and affection for Emmett.

I felt an arm curing around me and turned to see Edward straddling the bench like Emmitt. "Are you okay?" he asked worry written all over his face.

"I'm fine." I assured him. "That was fun!" I turned and swung my legs over the bench so they were under the table now. Jasper sat across from me still grinning happily. I was happy that he was out of whatever funk he had slipped into over whatever he and Alice had been grumping about.

"Bella! Bella! Bella!" Jessica what rushing towards us at full speed yelling my name. She skidded to a halt when she saw who I was sitting with, almost losing her footing on the slick sidewalk. It had started raining sometime last night; it had stopped just before my vampires had showed up, so the ground was still pretty wet. "Um, um, um," I felt sort of bad for her, even though she'd said such mean things about my new friends the day before. A mixture of things ran across her face. Excitement about being so close to the beautiful crowd most likely. Confusion as to why I was with them, no doubt. Fear, probably worried I would tell them what she'd said about them. Then excitement again.

She smiled. She walked over and sat down across from me next to Jasper. He moved down making sure there was a wide space between the two of them, which took him closer to Alice who'd sat down across from Emmett and Rosalie and still had a disgruntled look on her face. Jessica looked around in wide eyed awe at my companions. I wasn't stupid, she was excited that someone would see her sitting with the Cullens/Hales and she'd get some popularity points.

"What's up Jessica?" I asked trying to pry her attention away from the others, who were now looking the way they had in the cafeteria yesterday. All looking off in different directions ignoring everyone else. Rosalie and Emmett wrapped up in each other. The only difference was Edward, who had scooted closer to me once I'd turned around and was now rubbing the small of my back through my jacket and shirts, causing little excited shocks to travel up my spine.

"Mike called me last night and asked me out finally!" she was giddy.

"That's great! I'm happy for you." I told her sincerely. Her and Mike would make a good couple.

Angela came up then sitting down next to Jess. She looked surprised at my company but didn't ogle them like Jessica had done. I was beginning to worry that having vampire company was going to limit my ability to have human friends to, which kind of sucked because I really liked Angela. I like the others to but I could see Angela and me becoming closer friends. Jessica a little to gossipy for us to really be close. I figured anything I told her would make its way around the gossip mill eventually. Mike seemed a little too interested in me to really be friends without him trying to take it further and ruining it. Maybe that would change now that he had asked Jessica out though. I was trying to figure out how to balance the two worlds.

I was thinking way too hard about it and missed Angela's question. "What?"

"Did you want to take my note book home this weekend to copy notes?" she repeated.

"Yeah, thanks Angela. That would be great." I started thinking hard again.

"So Jessica, what are you going to wear on your date?" Alice moved to sit between Jasper and Jessica.

Jessica looked like someone had hit her in the face with a frying pan. Angela saved her though. "Date! What date?"

"Mike asked her out last night." Alice supplied.

"And you didn't call and tell me first?!" Angela acted out raged for a second. "so what are you going to wear?!" she repeated Alice's question.

The three of them launched into a discussion about color pallets and the pros and cons of wearing a dress in Forks. All things I didn't understand in the slightest. Alice caught my eye and winked at me smiling. She'd noticed me worrying over my human friends and moved to fix the problem. I think she was right we were going to be good friends.

With that taken care of a new worry crept in. The vampire parents. I looked over to make sure that Alice had Jessica and Angela well distracted. "Jasper?"

He looked at me, and then his eyes darted around searching for danger, like he thought ninja's were going to fall from the trees and steal me away or something. "Yes Bella." He said when he was satisfied that the ninjas weren't coming down on us.

"Do I really have to go meet them?" I could have asked Edward since he practically had me almost sitting in his lap at this point. But Jasper just looked so lonely on the out skirts of everything since Alice had moved to talk to Jessica. I wanted to included him and make sure he knew that we still wanted him there for some reason. I don't know why, he knew we did. He could feel it. But I still could help putting forth the effort.

"Yes ya do." He smiled.

"Okay, well do I need to bring anything?"

"Like what?" Edward asked his hand had moved below my jacket now, my shirts the only thing between his cold hand and my skin.

I thought about that for a second. "Well I could bring flowers, or candy, or maybe a snack of some sort," I stopped as they all looked at me like I was missing something. Even Alice had stopped midsentence with Jessica and was staring. "What?"

Edward chuckled and leaned into me putting his mouth right next to my ear. "If we weren't vegetarian you would be bringing the snack." His cold breath on my neck and ear making me shiver.

It only took me a second to catch up. They didn't eat candy, or human food. And if they'd been the human eating breed of vampire I would have shown up as the snack. "Oh! Right!" I thought for another few second. "Well I could make a stop by the pet shop I guess, but wouldn't know what to get. And I don't think I could do that to those cute little puppies."

Rosalie made a disgusted noise. Alice laughed and returned to her conversation with Jessica and Angela making sure they were distracted from our conversation again. Emmett stifled a laugh. Jasper had to put his hand over his mouth to keep it in. "We prefer something quite a bit larger with a lot more bite to it than puppies."

Well how was I supposed to know? Charlotte and Peter had been the red eyed human eating vampires. They only ever ate people who were like the boy who'd attacked me though. The bad guys, or people who were already on their way out anyway. How strange that, that had never bothered me. Peter had told me there were vampires that fed on animals but I'd never stopped to think about what kind of animals they'd feed from.

"Oh! You're going to get him a bear!" I said in surprise a little too loudly.

Edward chuckled against me hard he shook against me. "What did you think I meant earlier?"

"I don't know I thought maybe he collected stuffed animals or something. I was going to give him all my old ones if he did."

Edward burst out laughing. His laugh was nice but it didn't have that same contagious quality that Jasper's or Emmett's held. "Silly Bella." Slid his hand under the back of my shirt placing it on my bare skin without warning, making me just put and squeal like someone had put ice down my shirt just as the first warning bell rang.

"Are you ok Bella?" Angela asked. She and Jessica were staring at me again.

"Yeah, a cold rain drop went down the back of my shirt." I lied quickly. They seemed to accept my lame excuse. I picked up my bad where one of them had put it next to the table we were sitting at and used it to hit Edward as we got up to go to class.

Edward walked with me all the way to my home room. I kept expecting him to veer off to his own class but he walk all the way into the room with me and took a seat next to me. "what are you doing?"

He leaned over in the chair so he could whisper to me without anyone else hearing. "Emmett may have stumbled into the school computer system last night and shifted some schedules around." My eyes widened at him in surprise. "Don't worry I think he did it on accident. I'm pretty sure he was looking for porn." I burst out with a nervous sounding laugh. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. I don't know what shocked me more. That he'd adjusted a whole chunk of his life for me, or that Emmett could even use a computer much less hack into a school computer system.

The teacher called everyone to order and the majority stopped staring. The only ones that kept looking were a couple of girls across the room who kept throwing me dirty looks that I really didn't understand. Oh well, they weren't my problem. I didn't even know them. The other was Mike. He kept shooting wounded looks my way. He better get his shit together and stop or Jessica would get jealous.

I wondered if I should be flattered or creeped out that Edward had adjusted his whole schedule around to have more time with me. I didn't want to dwell on it for too long or I'd start making myself all paranoid and stressed. What could it hurt that he was in a few more of my classes?

It wasn't just a few more of my classes. And it wasn't just him. the whole lot of them had adjusted their schedules so that I was in class with at least one of them for almost every class. Edward was in three of my classes now. Alice was in one. Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie were still in trig. And Jasper was now taking gym with me. Plus we were all still in the same lunch.

By the time gym rolled around I was tired of being coddled.

After hitting another embarrassing 20 minutes of playing volleyball again, the coach told me to just observe from the bleachers again. I hadn't managed to hurt anyone else but I kept falling and getting in the way more than I was helping my team.

Jasper faked a stomach cramp on the boy's side of the gym and came to sit next to me. "Why are ya so angry Bella?"

"Why are you all coddling me like a child?" I snapped at him.

"_We're _not. _Edward _is." My anger eased up a bit. At least they weren't all trying to baby me for no reason. Then it hitched back up. Why were they going along with it? And why was he even doing this to begin with? Their coming to take me to school this morning didn't seem like such a sweet gesture any more.

"Tattle tale." I accused him. "why are you all going along with this if he's the one orchestrating it?"

"He had Emmett change the classes before any of the rest of us knew about it. He got upset that Emmett couldn't get us into all of your classes." I only had two out of my eight classes without one them. "he's just worried about you is all. Don't be too upset with him. I agree that what he'd doin' is high handed and he needs ta be kicked in the ass. But Peter sent ya here for a reason and ya know that. You're not stupid. so ya know ya need some protection right?"

I had known that. I knew Peter never did anything without a reason. And I wasn't stupid. once I'd realized he'd sent me to these vampires instead of just sending me to Forks for a change of scenery I knew I was in some sort of trouble. But still that didn't mean that they could just make all the decisions for me.

"I understand that. But this is also my life. I should be included in any plans to protect it. And you guys shouldn't have to rearrange your lives for me. It's not fair to you all." I hated this. I'd been so happy to find my vampire friends. And happy that they all seemed to want to be my friend, well except for Rosalie. But she didn't really matter as long as I could still play with Emmett. No it just seemed like it was all fake. They only wanted to be my friends so they could keep me close enough to watch over until the danger passed.

"It ain't like that and you know it!" I jerked my gaze to his. I thought he was just an empath, surely he hadn't just read my thoughts. He read my surprise, "no I can't read your mind. But I can feel what you're feelin' right now. You were just feelin' lost and alone. Ya feel like we're gonna abandon ya after there's no more danger." He stared at me with such intensity, like he was pleading with me to believe him. "We won't do that Bella. We were all taken by ya the minute we came into contact with you. We all loved ya almost immediately." He laughed. "Emmett wanted to keep you long before we knew about Peter." Well that was true.

I smiled at him. "what about rose?"

"Rose will get there. She just takes her time thawin' out to people." We both laughed. She was the ice queen. "I will make sure ya know about everything beforehand from now on where ever I can help it. You're right; you should have some say so over the affairs of your own life."

"so what's going on with you and Alice?" why did I ask that! You weren't getting involved remember dummy.

He seemed to consider the question for a minute. "I don't really know. She ain't been herself the last couple a days. She's been snappin' at me and talkin' bout some plans ta take a trip without the rest of us. But she don't know when it is or where it's to yet. She won't let me touch her. she don't even like bein' in the same room with me half the time." I wanted to hug him. I didn't like the pain in his voice when he talked about this.

Hugging him wasn't a good idea. One there was a gym full of people who would start talking and have us dating behind Edward and Alice's backs in no time. Two I kept having huge lusty thoughts over the guy like crazy; touching was not a good idea. Okay so no touching but you can still make him feel better.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. You two looked so happy together yesterday at lunch. I'm sure you guys will work through it. She's probably just stressed over not being able to see the future clearly with me in the picture and having to do this trip without you guys, whatever it's for is probably just adding to the stress. Just give her a little space, she'll come around. There's no way she could. Any women would be out of their mind to mess a good thing with you."

He nudged my knee with his. "Thanks Bells."

"So how old are you?" I wanted to get him off the depressing talk.

He smiled. "Well do ya want to know when I was born or when I was turned?"

"I want to know everything." And I did I wanted to know every single detail he would give me.

"I was born in ta the mortal world in 1844, in Houston Texas. I was turned when I was 17. So that makes me 168 years old." Oh my holy gob stoppers! He was ancient. He felt my shock. "oh honey, I ain't even the oldest one in the house." he laughed again.

"How old are the other?" I asked in awe. I'd never asked Peter or Charlotte how old they were. I don't know why it just never accrued to me that it mattered.

"Well goin' from youngest to oldest?" I shook my head yes. "Charlotte was born somewhere around 1920, both Emmett and Rose were born in 1915, Edward and Alice were born in 1901, Esme was born in 1895, I was born in 1844, and Carlisle," he paused and smiled at me a wicked little smile, "was born in 1640."

372 years old. Their father was so old it almost my by bones ache to think of being that old. "Wow." I said in a quiet breathy voice. They were all so old compared to me. "Hey how old is Peter?" he'd mentioned Charlotte, she'd been the youngest of them at somewhere near 100 years old.

"we don't really know. Not a lot is known about Peter before he was turned. Nears as anyone can tell it was somewhere between the 1860's and the 1920's, I know that's a big gap but nobody really knows and Peter won't tell."

"what did you do when you were human?" I was just full of questions today.

"I was the youngest major in the Confederate Army. I joined before I was even 17." He was proud of that. I couldn't help but feel proud for him to, even though it had been so long ago.

"How did you meet Peter?" I liked hearing him talk I didn't want him to stop. He made a face then. He didn't want to tell me this. "you don't have to tell me. It's ok."

"It ain't that darlin'. I just don't wanna scare ya."

"I could never be scared of you Jasper. So spill!" I was really interested now.

He smiled at me but it didn't reach his eyes. He didn't believe I wouldn't be scared of him. "we were in the southern vampire wars together. He was Captain to my Major."

"Vampires have wars?" surely humans would have noticed huge groups of vampires duking it out.

"More like battles for territory. Control over a piece of land so ya can control who can feed there and who can't, who can be turned and who can't. just to be able to say you're the top dog pretty much. We worked for the women who turned me. Maria." He said her name with disgust. "She used me to train her newborns, and to destroy them when they reached maturity and their strength and speed would decrease. Did Peter tell ya about newborns?" I shook my head yes.

He'd told me vampires were strongest and fastest when they were first turned. It had something to do with the human blood still in their system. I didn't really understand it but I believed him.

"Maria used my gifts to control the unpredictable and uncontrollable emotions of the newborns. I trained them to fight; I fought next to some of them. Then I murdered them. The whole time I felt what they felt, they all trusted me up to the bitter end. It was heart breaking Peter had fallen in love with Charlotte; she'd been one of the new borns and was marked for death soon. So he ran with her so I wouldn't kill her. I was supposed to go after them but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't go after my brother." His voice was soft, lost in a world I couldn't even imagine. "I thought Maris loved me. But she was just using me. I was with Maria for about 75 years before I finally got away from her. I became depressed and started trying to figure out ways to end it. I had never lost a fight not once since I'd been turned. But I had decided I would throw a fight. Let the newborn I was training tear me to pieces. But then Peter came back for me." He smiled a crooked smile. "He told me about other ways for us to live, about other covens who didn't kill humans, or at least didn't kill innocent humans like him and Char. I left with him then and never looked back."

A tear ran down my face. He reached over and wiped it away. "Oh darlin', why are you crying?"

"I hate that you had to go through that. I hate that she used you. I hate that you thought of killing yourself. Its hurts my heart to think that if Peter hadn't come back for you, you wouldn't be sitting here with me now."

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "It's ok, I'm here now." He soothed. How pathetic I was. He'd had just told me this story that should have had him crying and here he was comforting me. I should be comforting him.

He rocked me gently. "Jasper,"

"Yeah darlin'?"

"Promise me you won't ever consider that again. I don't care what happens, you find a way out of the dark and stay with us."

I looked up at him for his answer. He put his other hand on my cheek, his thumb rubbing lightly. "I promise darlin'." His voice was so low I barely heard it. he stared into my eyes for what seemed like hours.

"Hey!" we both jumped away from each other as Emmett's voice echoed through a now empty gym. "What the hell are you two doing? Schools over, we've been waiting by the car for like twenty minutes."

Ok here's chapter 9

Sorry it took so long to get done and upload I was just trying to give the Bella and Jasper moment the attention it deserved.

I hope you guys enjoy this one.

I hope I got all the dates.

Feel free to comment review or ask questions as needed.


	10. Chapter 10

As always I own nothing. All in funzies.

Chapter 10

Jasper's POV

What the hell! She jerked away from me. Had she changed her mind? Did I scare her? Damnit I shouldn't have told her those things!

"We've been waiting by the car for like twenty minutes." Emmett had been talking. Wait what was he saying, how long had he been there? Where had all the people in the gym gone? We'd been so wrapped up in each other that we hadn't even heard the bell ring.

Real great protection skill Jasper! I scolded myself. If something had been coming for her I would have been completely unprepared. I had to get control over this situation and quick. Whatever this situation was.

"Sorry Emmett." Bella told him as she quickly got up and stumbled her way to the girl's locker room, her face the color of a tomato.

I didn't know what to do. I just sat there stunned at my own behavior. I had started to lean in before she jerked away. I almost kissed her. What had Emmett seen? Oh god he would tell Alice.

I flitted to the locker room and changed in less than a minute. When I came back out Emmett was still standing there, looking very disgruntled. "What the hell do you think you're doing bro?" panic, fear, and confusion were rolling off of him in waves. "That's Edwards's girl! And your wife is sitting out in the car waiting for you!" he kept his voice low so it wouldn't carry into the locker room where Bella could hear.

"She's not his girl!" I grumbled, why was that the first thing I responded to? "And I wasn't doin' anything. She was cryin' and I was comforting her!" that was my story and I was damn sure sticking to it!

He looked at me in with obvious disbelief, "Why was she crying?

"She asked me about my past, after I told her she just started cryin'" he thought about my explanation and seemed to except it.

"You should have edited for her man. She didn't need to hear all the dirty details." He scolded me. "Did you scare her?"

"I don't think so. I didn't feel any fear coming off her all, just sadness, and pity." I said in a sad voice.

He patted my shoulder, "Sorry man, I didn't mean to jump to conclusions." The trust I felt coming from my little big brother was so pure and strong. I wanted to kick myself; I didn't like lying to him. Was I lying to him though? I was losing my freaking mind.

"Hey Em, I know I didn't do anything wrong but we need to keep this from Edward okay." Once Edward seen what Emmett seen he'd know exactly what had been about to happen. He would tell Alice, I was praying like crazy she hadn't seen it in a vision. I hadn't made a decision to kiss bell my body had just been going on auto pilot. They couldn't be mad at me any way right? I hadn't actually kissed her.

"Yeah, I think you're right. The way Edward acts about her, he won't believe you. He'll assume you were doing something wrong and freak. Also I don't think he'll be very happy about you telling her about the wars. He'll think it scared her. I really don't understand his issue, it's like he thinks she's made out of glass or something. "Emmett was a lot more perceptive than any one gave him credit for. I was betting he really didn't believe my story about just comforting her, but he wasn't going to rock the boat and freak. "How we going to do this though? He'll see it in my head; I'm not as good at blocking him as you guys are."

We had all managed to figure out how to block Edward from certain thoughts we didn't want him to hear over the years. He couldn't see them unless we thought about them, so we all thought of anything but what we didn't want him to and he hated it. Emmett was horrible at it. Alice was best at it. She had even found a way to do so that it annoyed Edward. She'd would sing childish songs, or think highly inappropriate thoughts at him. When he would protest or scold her for it she would tell him to stop being a creepy eavesdropper. I scoffed at that, like it was any different that looking into every detail of every ones lives to see their decisions so that you could tell them what decisions they should make and how to live their lives! I thought bitterly. Where the hell had that thought come from?

"Well if you just bolt home they'll think something is up and he'll come looking for you demanding to know what it is." Edward was always that way, when we tried to avoid him. Demanding we tell him what ever was wrong even if it was personal. "Just keep touching her for now, he won't be about to hear you."

"Yeah because that won't make him crazy jealous. Not to mention that Rose will rip Bella's head off if I can't keep my hands off of her." he was right Rose was known for her tempter when it came to other women and her Emmy. And of course Edward would assume the worst if Emmett became permanently attached to Bella. I was pretty sure Bella would become fed up with it as well.

"Just make it playful then I don't know. And I would be forever just until we can get home then you can lock yourself in your room with Rose until you forget it!" I rushed it out at him quickly because Bella was coming now. He'd think of something. And locking himself in his room with Rosalie wouldn't raise any suspicions; they sometimes locked themselves up for days at time. The noises we heard from them when they were in there would put the animals at the zoo to shame.

God if you let Emmett be able to pull this off I swear I'll send you cookies. I prayed. I really didn't want to fight with my wife or my brother. I wanted to fix it. I did still want that right? I had no idea what I wanted anymore. I knew I at least didn't want to hurt either of them though.

Bella's POV

Oh how embarrassing! I thought as I changed back into my regular clothes. We had only been talking and he had been consoling me while I cried, but I knew what it had to have looked like. I knew what I wanted it to have really been. That's what Emmett would have seen. The two of us sitting close, staring at each other, his arm around me, and his hand on my face. He thought we'd been kissing.

How did we get so wrapped up that we hadn't noticed everyone else leave? Fix this Bella fix this now! You've just started something with Edward. Alice wants to be your friend. You don't want to hurt either of them. Just go out there and act like nothing happened, maybe he'll do the same. Nothing had happened anyway. We were just two friends consoling each other. Yeah let's stick with that story.

When I walked back out Emmett and Jasper were having a very quiet tense conversation. They both turned to me and smiled like nothing was wrong though. "Come on Bells I'll give you a piggyback ride to the car." Emmett smiled playfully.

"I'm quite capable of walking thank you." I tried to walk around him but he blocked me.

"If you say no I'll just put you over my shoulder again." He seemed even happier at that prospect.

"Come on Bells just humor him or we'll be here all day." Jasper smiled just as brightly as Emmett, but there was something off about his smile. Like his was forced or something. I wasn't sure what was up, but I relented.

I handed my bag off to Jasper and Emmett bent down so I could climb on. I felt like a little kid on his back. He was so much bigger than me. I wrapped my arms around his tree trunk of a neck and he hooked his hands under my legs to help brace me and then he was off running at vampire speed again. Jasper was right behind us. I hoped everyone was out of the school, I didn't want to be the reason they were ousted. It had been bad enough when they had started tossing me round like a ball this morning.

When we got to the parking lot Alice and Edward were there. Alice siting cross legged on the hood of the car, Edward pacing back and forth on the driver's side.

He smiled when he saw us. "Hey you little spider monkey come down from there." The comment was playful but it still cut close since I was still a little angry about the schedule shifting. Oddly I wasn't angry at Emmett. I figured he was just doing as he'd been told. I had no doubt he'd been duped into thinking he was doing right thing.

It wasn't until we were right there in front of Edward that I realized the need for Emmett to touch me. Edward could hear him while I touched him. They were worried how Edward would react to Jasper and I being so close. I kept my arms wrapped securely around Emmett. "I'm not ready to get down yet" I gave a nervous little laugh. "I like being about to see the tree tops." I joked about Emmett's height. Edward didn't look happy but he let it go.

My phone rang and vibrated in my back pocked and someone fished it out making me squeal while I was still attached to Emmett's back. Jasper handed it to me. I flipped it open but couldn't see through Emmett's head. "What's that say Emmett?" I asked as I held it in front of his face.

"I don't mind if you go to your friend's house. It will make me feel better knowing you've got some company when I'm working late. If you decide to stay the night call me and let me know. Love you Dad. Awesome slumber party!" he jumped up and down making me a little queasy.

"Emmett let me down before I puke down your back." He plunked me down but put an arm around my shoulder hugging me to his side. I didn't fight it.

"Yay!" Alice squealed I got an uneasy feeling. I just knew she had some very definite ideas about what went on at a slumber party. I was also pretty sure she wasn't going to take no for an answer about them either. "Oh I can run to the beauty store over by Newton's and get stuff for a facial and a mani and a pedi! I'll get bad romance movies and we'll have such a great time!"

"Um, okay." Didn't even have the heart to try and tell her no. She looked so happy as she made plans, and really what did it hurt.

"Great! Let's go!" she sprang from the hood. "Shot gun!" she was in the front seat before any one could argue. It still didn't keep Edward from growling at her.

"You know, "I said as Emmett helped me into the car. "If you keep insisting on growling at every one every time they do something that isn't to your liking, I'm going to get a squirt bottle and start spraying you every time you do it."

Once we were in the car Emmett turned to me quickly and captured my hand. I looked at him surprised until he smiled "Thumb wrestle me Bella." He was crafty I'd give him that. I could feel Jasper press his leg against mine. I wondered how he'd managed Edward not reading it in his head before now.

"I'm not an animal!" Edward grumbled starting the car.

"Then stop acting like one!" Emmett was kicking my butt at thumb wrestling. His hands were so much bigger than mine that his almost completely engulfed mine. But I kept playing, acting as if I was enjoying so we could keep of the facade. I wondered what we would do when we got to their house. I was pretty sure Rosalie would rip my head off quite literally if Emmett couldn't stop touching me. "Hey I need to stop by the house for clothes and my truck." I decided I would go ahead and head down to the Quileute reservation to see Jacob tomorrow. I needed to get it over with and find out where we really stood as friends and it would give me a good excuse to leave. I was sure the longer I was with them the more girly things Alice would subject me to.

"I can take you home tomorrow; you won't need your truck." Edward said but headed to my house any way so I could at least get my clothes.

"No its ok, I'm going to meet my Dad down at the reservation tomorrow any way. It will just be easier for me to leave from your house and head over there." I was turned sideways in the seat, my back against Jaspers arm to give him more contact, still playing with Emmett. I wasn't really paying attention when everyone got tense. Jasper stiffened at my back, Emmett squeezed my hand just a little tighter. It wasn't painful but it was noticeable.

"What are you meeting him there for?" Edward was trying hard to keep his voice conversational and failing.

"He's going fishing with his friend, and I'm going to see my best friend that I haven't seen in a really long time." I was getting a little nervous as the tension level in the car clicked up another notch.

"And who is your friend?" his voice was definitely not just conversational any more. He sounded strained like he was having trouble holding in his anger. I still didn't look away from mine and Emmett's hands. I ignored his reaction. I knew he would know about the wolves, I just hadn't thought it would matter if I knew them.

"Jacob Black." The tires of the car squealed as he stomped on them. My body started to lurch sideways between the two front seats. They only thing that kept me from continuing forward and going through the windshield was Jasper. He slid one arm around my waist and the other over my shoulders and across my chest pulling back pinning me to his body.

"What the fuck Edward!" Emmett wailed "you could have hurt her! You were just yelling at me about being careful with her and you almost put her through the windshield!"

All I could do was clutch Jasper's arm and stare wide eyed in shock at Edward as he ignored Emmett. His face twisted in shock and rage as he'd turned to stare back at me. "You cannot go to the reservation." It came out in a low commanding voice. My shock was quickly fading into anger.

"Edward." Jasper said in a warning voice.

"What is wrong with you?" Alice looked just as shocked as she rest of us.

"Don't you know who she's talking about?" his rage shifted to the little pixie. I was suddenly scared for her.

She however paid his murders look no mind. "Yes, I know exactly who she's talking about. What of it?"

"Do you know what kind of danger she would be in? She can't go! What if he lost control?" his face was inches from hers as he yelled at her.

Emmett hit the back of Edwards's seat hard to get his attention. "You need to shut your mouth before you say something stupid." His voice was almost as dark as his enraged brother's. "I won't let you Rose or the rest of us in danger over your prejudices."

"No she needs to know! She needs to know what kind of freak he really is. Maybe then she wouldn't be so stupid to want to go down there and endanger her life like this!" he was leaning far into the back seat now.

Emmett looked like he was ready to leap on to Edward and tear him to shreds, but I got there first. I pushed Jasper's arms away wincing just a little. There might be a bruise or two he had held me a bit too tightly. I shrugged it off and leaned into Edwards face so he would focus on me and only me.

"Look here you over bearing glitter jock, if you think kissing me last night was some sort of contract with me signing over my free will to you, you have another thing coming. Just because it was fun and yeah believe me I enjoyed it, it doesn't mean you own me! You will not tell me what I can and cannot do. If you can't get your shit together you won't only be getting no more kisses from these lips," I pointed at my face, "but you can stay away from me all together! I've made it seventeen years without someone there to hold my hand every step of the way and I think I'm doing just fine! If you're looking for some poor little damsel in distress to rescue at every turn then you're looking in the wrong spot buster! I don't need rescuing! "I thought about it for a second, it wouldn't be betraying Jacobs's secret. They obviously already knew. "And if you're referring to the fact that Jacob and his friends are the local werewolf pack then you're a little late to the party because I already knew that. I've even seen him shift twice!" I thumped him on the end of the nose as a growl trickled out of him. It hurt my finger tip but I ignored it. "Stop that!" we glared at each other for another minute. "Emmett, get out!"

He didn't ask questions, he just got out and took my hand to help me out of the car. Jasper came out his side of the car and Alice got out as well. I looked around; we were only about a block from the house now I'd walk. As I did I realized that the three of them were following me. I stopped and Emmett had been so close behind me that he almost fell over me.

"What are you three doing?" I asked them.

"We," Alice gestured to the three of them, "are on your side of this argument. He's just being stupid and pigheaded. We like the wolves; we have a treaty with them. As long as we don't hunt humans and we stay off the reservation we can live in peace. We just have to let them take out any human vampires coming through munching on the human populous. And some of them seem to enjoy our company as well. Emmett even plays fantasy football with one of them. What's his name Emmett?"

"Seth." Emmett smiled. "Don't let him get you down Bella, he's just an over protective ass." The car sped by us and screeched to a halt in front of my house." Please don't cancel our slumber party over him. I really wanted to see what a facial was, my definition and what Alice is taking about can't possibly be the same thing." He grinned at me evilly.

"Gross Emmett! Does Rosalie know she married a perv?" I had to laugh at his absurdity.

"Yup, and she loves every second of it." he bend down closer to me and winking. I knew he was just trying to make me laugh and pull me out of the funk Edward had put me in.

"Alright," I turned to walk to my house. I had to meet their parents any way, and I wasn't going to let Edward ruin my friendship with the others. "Let's go get my stuff, you guys can ride with me if you want, but it'll be a tight fit." If Edwards's car had been a sardine can yesterday, my truck would look like a thimble crammed with piranha, happy playful piranha.

Edward's POV

My three siblings got out of the car with her! I can't believe they are taking her side! It's one thing for Emmett to play that stupid fake football thing with one of them; it was a whole nother issue all together when they were asking me, no telling me that there was no problem with Bella going to see them. And the way she had spoken to me! My mother never spoke to my father that way. Up until the last night Alice never spoke to Emmett that way. Sure Rosalie spoke to Emmett like that sometimes but someone had to keep him in line, he didn't listen to any of us.

I sped around past them and parked in front of her house waiting for them. Just calm down. You just have to figure out how to handle her. She's an odd but interesting girl. She never does what any one expects; you just have to adjust your tactics. Come at it from a different angle, you can still protect her. I used the rest of the time I had as they walked to the house to ponder over all the different options.

When they were finally reached her house I was calm and sure that I could avert her attention somewhere else besides the wolves. She was a human after all, she'd be easy to distract. I got out and leaned against the car calmly as she went inside and the others milled around in the yard. I let their thoughts slide through my head. I wanted to know what they were thinking; I wanted to know why they were siding with her.

Jasper was amused picturing the tiny girl going after me the way she had. He kept cycling the whole thing through his thoughts over and over again as he leaned against a tree in her yeard with his arms crossed over his chest.

Alice was going over plans to make sure Bella had a good time and contemplating what colors would look right on Bella if she could talk her into a full makeover. Something else caught my attention in Alice, in the back of her mind she was singing. I focused on that. she only did it when there was something she wanted to hide something from me.

"This is the song that doesn't end. Yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing it not knowing what it was and they'll continue singing it forever just because; this is the song that doesn't end. Yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing it not knowing what it was and they'll continue singing it forever just because." When she cycled through it a few times she started singing it in French.

I started to demand she tell me what she was hiding when Emmett's thoughts hit me. He was bouncing nervously back and forth from foot to foot. His eyes were darting around from the ground to the sky looking down the street, anywhere but at me. "Nope! Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. I'm not thinking of it. I'm not thinking of it! shit he's looking at me. Think of something else! Rosalie! Rosalie naked!" Well if the three of them had a secret it wouldn't be hard to get it out of Emmett. It never was.

"Emmett!" the second he turned to look at me I saw it. Jasper sitting with his arm around Bella, my Bella! He had a hand on her cheek, much like I'd done last night, and he was starting to lean in when Emmett caught them. She jerked away from him and fled. I saw it all even the weak excuse Emmett had bought.

Emmett saw the look of rage on my face and he knew he'd let it slip. "I'm going to find Rose!" the coward fled.

"What was that about?" Alice asked. Yeah like she didn't know. Why was she being so calm about it why hadn't she tried to tear the girl apart?

I looked at Jasper and knew he knew exactly what it was all about. I flitted to stand in front of him, we were inches apart but he stayed leaning against the tree casually like nothing was wrong.

Jasper's POV

Damnit Emmett! Why couldn't he just think of something else? No worries God I'll still send the cookies, I know you tried your best. It's no one's fault that Emmett can't hide things or lie to save his life.

Edwards rage prickled along my skin. He'd seen exactly what I knew he would. The truth, but I still had to try. "It's not what ya think it is." Why was I even trying? Now that i was thinking about it too he could see it in my head he knew what I was going to do.

"What's going on!?" Alice demanded stepping up next to us.

I could feel it he was vengeful. He was going to tell her. Whatever was already going on with Alice would get worse. I didn't know if there would be any repairing this.

"He tried to kiss Bella!" He growled glaring at me.

"No I didn't! I was just tryin' to comfort her."

"Why were you comforting her?" Alice said her voice a little low but other than that nothing had changed in her demeanor. Her emotions were just as all over the place as they had been jealousy, confusion, joy, guilt, excitement, indifference again.

"Wait if you didn't know about this and weren't trying to hide it from me?" she was probably hiding the same thing she was hiding from me and I wanted to know what it was. "You shut the hell up! You have no right to know any more, you cheated on your wife!" Stupid mind reader.

"Like you have a right? You're always poking around in our head looking for what ya can use against us or bring up later whenever you're pissed!" I growled back at him. I was still standing against the tree so that if Bella peaked out she wouldn't know we were fighting, again. "And I didn't cheat on my wife! I Swear Alice I didn't do anything I was just comforting her." I pleaded with her to believe me.

"It doesn't matter Jasper." Still indifference. "Why were you comforting her again?"

Her indifference was worse than if she'd hit me or ripped my arm off. She didn't care. My wife didn't care anymore. My heart broke. "She asked me about my past." It came out in a dull dead voice.

"You should have edited it for her. "She scolded me the same as Emmett had; she felt pity for the girl. I wondered what they thought I'd told her. Did they think I gave her a play by play of tearing people to shreds? I wouldn't do that to her.

"Well what you did was just as bad! You shouldn't have told her anything! Now she probably thinks we're all monsters like you!" Edward responded to my thoughts again.

I snapped, I was so sick of his shit! We'd put up with it for decades. Constantly putting us down for things we thought about, looking down on me for having more difficulty abstaining from human blood. He was cocky, with a holier than though attitude! I don't know why it had taken me this long to realize I hated my brother but I really did.

I didn't think about it I just let my body react so he wouldn't see it coming and be able to get away. He was a hell of a lot faster than the rest of us. If he rand I'd most likely never be able to catch is ass.

My hand shot out and wrapped around his throat, and I bared my teeth at him dripping with venom. "Listen here boy! I'm about damn tired of your bullshit! Ya cause problems every time you don't get ya damn way! You fly off the handle every time you can't control a situation, and now you're trying to turn my wife against me!" he grabbed my wrist with one hand trying to pry my hand away from his neck, he brought the other up to hit me and I grabbed his wrist before he could and twisted the arm at a painful angle. If he tried to get away I was going to take the arm and rip a piece of his throat out. It would kill him but he'd be hurtin. "I'm not going to kill ya this time because it would hurt the others, so ya better thank your god that I love them! Now ya need to pull on your big girl panties, straighten your shit up and stay the hell away from me because next time ya pull this shit on me I'm going to tear you to fucking pieces and burn you!" I tossed him roughly at his car denting the passenger door with his body.

"Stop this now!" Alice scolded both of us. "Bella will hear you and you'll scare her! Edward, Jaspers right you need to stop this! And not just with us, with her to! If you keep this up you'll scare her away from us. She's going to be my fiend for a very long time and I don't want you to ruin that for me!"

Edward growled. We understood her insinuation. Bella would be one of us one day. I felt some joy in that that I couldn't explain. I just chalked it up to being excited that I was getting another sister. Hmm sister. The left a bad taste in my mouth for some reason.

"She shouldn't have to be like us!" Edwards voice and emotions were sad. "We could make sure it doesn't happen. We could protect her." his voice was hopeful that we'd agree with him. Well like hell I would! If she wanted to be changed tomorrow I'd do it in a minute if for no other reason than to piss Edward off at this point. He growled at my thoughts, I flipped him off.

"I said stop it!" she stomped her tiny foot. "Edward, the only other for sure future I've seen for Bella is that she will be one of us or she'll die."

His sorrow was almost crippling. "Most people do." It was almost a whisper. None of us had chosen this life, we hated it at some point, but most of us got over it. Rosalie and Edward were the only two that held on to the pain and sorrow. If I wasn't so pissed at him I'd pity him.

"Edward you need to go somewhere, compose yourself. You'll scare her like this. If you care for her at all you'll go and let me and Jasper take care of her." he started to argue but she put her hand up to stop him and point at his car so he knew there was to be no more arguing.

He went. "You're going to fix my door or I'll drive your car off a cliff!" he snapped as he got in and left.

We stood in silence, Alice was sad. If for Edward, or Bella's fate, or for whatever was going on between me and her I didn't know. "Alice," I hedged. I was going to apologies again; I was going to beg her forgiveness.

"Don't. I don't want to talk about it." indifference again. "I'm going to tell Bella that I'm going to get run home and get Rose to go to the beauty store with me. I don't really want to be around you right now." Her words cut me like a knife. "Get her to the house safe." She left me standing there as she flittend into the house to talk to Bella. Then she was gone. She hadn't told me goodbye. She hadn't kissed me. She just left me standing there.

"Well I really know how to clear a front lawn don't I." Bella's voice came from the porch. I needed to get it together; I didn't want to make Bella uncomfortable.

"It's not you. Alice just wanted to hurry to the store and Edwards still being a baby. Emmett just wanted to go fondle Rose." She laughed buying my lies. "Let's get going, your dinosaur over there looks like it might have a heart attack before we get there." The truck was ancient looking. Not as old as some that we had but it looked its age, and ours, well they looked as well preserved as we did. I wasn't even sure her truck could go over twenty miles an hour. It might take us all night to get there.

"Don't hate on my baby, she's got personality." She joked. I liked her smile, it was contagious, and it made me smile to. "Which is more than I could say for Edwards prefab, tin can!" she was still mad at him. Well good at least we had something in common.

It didn't take us all night but it was a slow go compared to our cars. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though. I enjoyed Bella's company. She was witty and smart. She made me forget some of my cares as she joked about Emmett, made fun of Edward.

"So what do ya do for fun Bella?" I wanted to know more about her.

"I like to read, I love to cook. Um , I don't know, I like to sketch. I'm sure you noticed but I'm not much for sports."

"Yeah I think the coach my just let ya ride the bench all year and let you pass just so he doesn't have to worry about injuries and law suits." I laughed. She'd been rough on her team mates. She hadn't hurt any of them but it didn't seem to be for lack of trying.

We both laughed. It was nice to laugh and have it be genuine. I so very rarely had the chance to do it. Definitely not much lately. Hell I couldn't even remember the last time I really laughed. We carried on like that all the way to the house, laughing, joking, talking about her mom, her dad, her life back in Phoenix. We talked about how she knew Jacob, how much she missed him, how much it had hurt when he'd abandoned her. I wanted to hold her then. Her sorrow was so strong at losing her friend. But she pulled it back quickly. She was excited for tomorrow. She was hopeful that they could renew their friendship.

He damn well better make things better for her. If not I'd go down to the reservation and pull his tail off and give it to her for a trophy. I told her so and she laughed. By the time we pulled into the driveway I was feeling better. More light hearted. My pain over everything happening wasn't gone but Bella seemed to have a natural ability to make me forget for a little bit.

I carried her duffle back into the house as she ogled the house. It was impressive. Three stories and an attic and basement. The place was huge. It was more window than wall especially around the back of the house. It had six bedroom, each one with a full bathroom attached, one for each couple and then Edward plus two guest rooms. Carlisle, Edward, and I each had our own study. Esme had a design room where she kept and worked on floor plans for each of our homes. We had several in many states and countries. She was always decorating or remodeling one of them. Alice had a large room just off of our room that she used to design and make clothes. We had a huge kitchen that only got used when Esme was making snacks for visitors. We had a living room big enough to throw a rave in. I told Bella all of this as we walked around the wrap around porch on the first floor, we had one on each level of the house. I was hoping to distract her so she wouldn't hear the noises that sounded like someone might be being killing a cat from the direction of Emmett and Rosalie's room.

"What do Emmett and Rose do for entertainment?" she asked since I hadn't mentioned any extra accommodations for them.

"Well Rose and Emmett prefer a more physical past time." I winked at her and she blushed. I loved when she blushed.

I was hoping so hard she didn't hear the two upstairs. Luckily they had finished and showing by the time I took Bella inside. I couldn't hear anyone in the house other than Rose and Em, so I set Bella's bag in the bigger of the two spare bedrooms, it had a full bathroom attached. The other only had a half bath and Esme would have my head if I didn't try and give our guest the star treatment.

"Where is every one?" Bella asked as she looked around the interior with wide appreciative eyes.

"Esme went with Alice cuz Rose was busy. Carlisle got held up at the hospital but he'll be here soon. Edward isn't back yet. " Emmett grinned from ear to ear as he came down the stairs his hair still a little damp.

"Gees Emmett what were you doing up there it sounded like you were killing a cat!" she laughed at him blushing at her own joke.

"Well when I hit it I hit it good." He smiled making her go beet red.

"Yeah you just keep telling yourself that Emmy-pooh." Rosalie was coming down now. I was worried she'd be rude to Bella making her uncomfortable but she surprised me. "Don't you just hate it when they get such big heads about their performance?" she smiled at Bella playfully.

If Bella blushed any more her face might explode from the heat. She was as red as she could possibly go. "I wouldn't know about all that." She laughed nervously. And then changed the subject quickly. "Emmy-pooh?" she laughed at Emmett.

"Don't you start to." he grumbled rolling his eyes. He hated most of the pet names rose used for him and we all loved using them on him to, to irritate him. "So what do you want to do till everyone gets here?"

"I don't know what is there to do?" she was a little nervous. I pushed some calm into her. I wanted her to be comfortable in our home. From what Alice had said it would be her home to one day I presumed. "Thanks Jasper." She felt me pushing the calm at her, which surprised me. Most people including most vampires were never able to notice.

I didn't use the gift to affect others emotions as much as possible. After my early life I hated the thought of controlling someone. I only used it when I had to, or when one of the others asked me to give them a little calm if they were stressed. I was too afraid that if they felt me using it on them that they would accuse me being like Edward and using my gift against them. I was glad that Bella understood that, that wasn't what I was trying to do, and that I was only trying to make her more comfortable.

"I got video games." Emmett supplied sounding like a little kid.

"Lead the way." I was pretty sure she would give Emmett almost anything to make him happy. She already loved him. It was a sisterly love though. She was amazing.

"You guys go ahead. I'm gonna to run up and change and I'll be right back down." I flitted up stairs happier than I'd been in last few days, hell happier than I'd been even before that.

Before the tiny human had entered our lives, it had been pretty damn dull. We had all been just going through the motions here. I could feel it from a few of the others to. Edward and Alice mostly. Carlisle and Esme seemed content tough, as well as Rose and Emmett. I had been trying to think of ways to pull Alice out of her boredom when this girl popped up. Maybe a second honey moon or something.

I pushed thoughts of Alice out of my head for now. I didn't want to go down that road right now. I wanted to stay happy; I wanted Bella to have a good time. That certainly wouldn't happen if my bad mood started leaking out all over her.

However it seemed Alice was determined to creep in and ruin it for me. The minute I entered our room I knew something was off. The book I'd been reading wasn't next to my side of the bed. We didn't use the bed for sleeping, but Alice liked having it. We used it very rarely, for its recreational uses, and I laid in bed sometimes and read while Alice was in her designing room. My cowboy had that I'd had since before I'd even been turned was no longer sitting on the dresser any more either. I opened one of my drawers my clothes were gone. I walked into the closet thinking maybe Alice had changed her mind and packed me a bag to go with her. but the only bags there were still hers and all of my clothes were missing from the small portion of the closet that had been mine.

I flitted out back down stars and into my study that was between Carlisle's study and the spare bedroom I'd put Bella in. My hat was on my desk with my book. I opened the store closet and all my things were there. My wife had thrown me out. I felt numb. She didn't care. She didn't want to make it work. My wife who I had loved and cherished was throwing me away.

I wouldn't car either I decided. I pulled a plain white tee-shirt and jeans out of the closet and changed. I turned the gas on in the fire place and lit it. I threw the ugly button up shirt and khaki pants Alice had laid out for me to wear this morning into flames. I watched as they burned. I would not care. I told myself sternly. If she could throw away everything we had together then so could I. if this was just some weird thing where she needed her space for whatever the hell was going on in her head lately I didn't care. She wouldn't tell me what was going on so that I could help her, she'd been distant and pushing me away little by little even before Bella showed up causing her to have this new mystery vision. I would not care. I didn't care.

I would ignore her funky ass moods, I would dress how I wanted, I would find things to entertain myself instead of always doing what she wanted. I would be myself. I realized in that moment that I had missed myself. I missed who I had been before Alice came along and changed my whole world.

I shut off the gas to the fire place and went back down stairs. Emmett was pulling out his boxes of video games, showing them off to Bella. She picked up a controller that Emmett had crushed in one of his excited fits. "What happened to this Emmy-pooh?" she laughed, she was sitting cross-legged in the floor next to the boxes.

"He gets mad when he loses and overly excited when he wins, and not just with the video games." Rosalie was joked. She was sitting on the couch with her legs crossed reading a magazine.

Bella laughed and blushed again. Rosalie smiled at her. Emmett sat down with her and began digging through the tote box for good controller. "I'm not that bad." he defended himself, but pulled out four more broken controllers before he found a good one. "Jaz get your ass in here and defend me!" he called over to me when he noticed me standing there.

Bella turned and smiled at me. Her smile was beautiful. Yeah I would do whatever made me happy. I walked over sat down cross-legged beside her.

So here's chapter 10 I hope you guys enjoy and thank you all for your great reviews. I'm sorry for the wait on this on. It's been a busy weekend.

Ok so I was just wondering what you guys though about the flow of this story am I going to fast or am I dragging it out to much or are we going on about right?

Also I noticed in chapter 8 that I was bout 10year off on Alice and Jasper's relationship. Sorry.

Any way please enjoy. Feel free to comment and review.

Next chapter we'll get to see Carlisle and Esme.


	11. Chapter 11

As always I own nothing. All for funzies.

Chapter 11

Edward's POV

I drove around for over an hour, trying to calm myself, trying to figure out how to stop this train wreck in motion. I had no idea what to do. I was pretty sure I'd figured out how to keep her away from the reservation as much as I possibly could.

It just wasn't safe for her there. all it would take is for her to get up in one of the wolves faces the way she had mine today and they'd lose control, shift, and shred her to pieces . She'd almost pushed me over the edge today.

But I was still lost on what to do about Alice's vision of the girl joining us. Sure she was fascinating to me, and she was attractive, but was that really enough for forever? Not just that, but I couldn't imagine condemning someone to this life. I made the best of the extra time I had been given. I'd gone to college many times over filling my time with as much knowledge as I could. I traveled often, visiting all the pyramids, traveling through the amazon jungles seeing places that hadn't been touched by man in millenniums. I had gotten the chance to watch the world change and evolve, to see all the important moments and carry them with me. But I still wasn't sold the way the others were. I wasn't sure that the tradeoff for my humanity or for my soul had been worth it.

I hated the need for blood. To have the urge to slaughter the humans around me, it was so hard to fight. We were monsters. Just as the wolves were. So why did I hate them so much? I knew the answer to that. They were still partially human. They still had options. They could have real families, children, grandchildren, and when we left town and they no longer had the need to shift they would begin aging again. They would grow old and die, to move on to whatever was after this life.

I had never hated Carlisle for saving me. I knew he thought he was doing the right thing. He was so pure of heart, that he could never have harmed me intentionally. I loved my adopted father, and mother. No stet of parents could have been better. But if I could do it over again, I may have asked Carlisle to have let me die.

I pulled up to the house pushing the morose thoughts out of my head for now. I had other things to worry about right now. I had to get Bella to forgive. Then I had to tread carefully to stay in control of the situation.

I could hear loud laughter, and lots of smack talk coming from the house. Emmett must have talked Bella into playing with him. I hated those idiotic, childish games. I couldn't understand Emmett's fascination with them.

As I entered the scene in front of me was a little shocking. Emmett and Bella were sitting on the floor in front of the television, with controllers in hand both of them jumping around excitedly. That had been expected. The odd part of the scene was Jasper sitting next to Bella on the floor, a controller in his hand as well. He was smiling, and enjoying himself, laughing even. I hadn't heard him really laugh in so long that I couldn't even remember when it had been. But the most bizarre thing was Rosalie sitting cross-legged on the couch just behind them with a controller in her own hands, laughing and smack talking with the others. I'd never seen Rose go near the machine, and I thought she'd had such distaste for the girl that she was now yelling at to cut Jasper off before get around them.

I walked around them and around the back of the couch to sit in the arm chair so I could watch them play and observe them. I could hear any of their thoughts clearly since they were all so close to Bella. They all ignored me as I sat there starting at them playing a racing game that had the screen split into four smaller screens so each of them could see their own car and its progress. The only thing I was able to read for sure was that Alice had thrown Jasper out of their room. And I only caught that because all three of my siblings were thinking about it. That in its self, made their behavior even more bizarre.

"Oh no you don't!" Bella yelled and her whole body moved in the direction she was pushing on the controller.

"Move over half pint!" Jasper yelled back and reached over and began hitting buttons on Bella's controller.

"Cheater! Rose gets him!" Bella laughed.

Rose cackled and snatched Jasper's controller out of his hand while she still managed to keep her car on the course with her other hand. "Get off my girl!"

The girl was having an effect on the whole family. They continued to ignore me, so I continued to observe their strange behavior. I would talk to the girl later. For now I would watch her, get a better idea on how to handle it.

Bella's POV

I'd been a little scared when Edward walked in that he'd spoil our good time. I'd been so excited when Rosalie had not only wanted to play with us, but she'd wanted to be my partner. I wanted so badly to have her like me. I loved her husband to death he was like the big brother I had always wanted. And having her hate me was going to severely limit my access to him.

I just knew he'd come in and disapprove of what we were doing in some way or another. Maybe he would claim the T.V. screen was damaging my oh so delicate human eyes or something. But he didn't. He just walked around us and sat in a chair across the room and stared at us like we might all spout wing or something. I ignored him and kept playing.

Rosalie stole Jasper's controller when he reached over to push random buttons on mine to keep me from cutting his car off. His car veered out of control and crashed into the side rail of the track and burst into flames.

"Get off my girl!" she laughed at him. She and I both passed Emmett and won the race.

"Ha! In your face losers!" I jumped up and started dancing my in your face dance in front of Emmett and Jasper, I turned still dancing and shook my butt at them. "Kiss it boys! We just smoked your asses! Eep!" I stood up right and let out high pitched noise as I turned spun around in mid-dance my face grew hot with my embarrassment. Alice, a tall blond man who looked like a freaking male runway model, and a woman who was a little taller than me, with gently waving caramel colored hair. She was so beautiful, slender but still curvy. She looked sort of like one of the women in an old silent movie my mother had forced me to watch once.

Everyone laughed at me, my face got hotter.

"Well hello there." The blond man stepped forward and shook my hand gently. "I'm Carlisle Cullen, and this is my wife Esme." He spoke softly but loud enough for me to hear. He moved and the women stepped forward.

She wrapped her arms around me gently hugging me. "It's so nice to meet you!" she stepped back making sure to give me room if she'd made me uncomfortable.

"It's nice to meet you to. I'm so sorry I didn't see you standing there. I don't usually act like that." I sputtered out.

"Don't let her lie," Emmett spoke up from behind me. "She's a riot!" he laughed. I shot him a dirty look.

They ignored him. "Are you hungry dear?" Esme asked smiling at me kindly.

"Um, a little. But really you don't have to go through any trouble. I can just run into town and grab me something later." I told. Actually I was starving. I'd only picked at my lunch, it was to nerve racking with the whole cafeteria looking at us, and none of them eating it had made me feel overly self-conscious.

"None since I made sure to grab whatever you might want from the store." Esme told me she wrapped an arm around my shoulder cautiously. I guess she was waiting for me to freak out over her touching me.

"Boys," Carlisle said in an authoritative voice. "Your mother has a car full of groceries please help me retrieve them."

All three boys stood and answered in unison, "Yes sir."

"Emmett," Esme turned to him stopping him from going out with the others.

"Yes mam?" he answered.

"You will pick up your game when you're done helping with the bags. Don't leave it sitting out again please."

"Yes mam." He answered again and flitted out to help the others.

This was just too bizarre. When the others had said parents, I thought they were just using the code word they used for the head of their coven in front of humans out of habit when they'd told me that their "Parents" wanted to meet me. But these really were their parents. They were a family, not a coven. Peter had always used the word coven when he talked about other groups of vampires.

Esme gestured for me to sit at a bar stool that was on one side of the island in her huge kitchen. I wasn't really sure why they would have a kitchen, they didn't eat. I'd been out to Peter and Charlotte's ranch once and their kitchen had been torn out to make the living room bigger.

Rosalie and Alice had followed us into the kitchen; they were both flitting around taking out knives, bowels, a cheese grater, and a huge pizza pan. When they guys came back in, each of them holding several bags each, the whole family began flitting around the kitchen setting out groceries, putting them away, and each of them helping to prepare what looked like a homemade pizza.

"Do you like the traditional Peperoni or would you prefer something more exotic?" Esme asked as she cut tomatoes.

"Oh no peperoni is fine." I assured her. "And you didn't have to go through all this trouble just for me. I think you might have bought enough groceries for an army." I smiled at her.

"I just wanted you to be comfortable while you're here, and I'm also hoping that we'll see you around here more often as well." She was such a sweet women. I couldn't help but lover her immediately.

"So Isabella, how is it that you know about us?" Carlisle asked as he grated several different kinds of cheese into small bowels.

"Didn't they tell you that I know Peter and Charlotte?" I asked confused as to why they wouldn't have.

"Yes they did but I was hoping you might elaborate." He smiled at me kindly.

"Well I figured Jasper would have done that." Everyone in the room looked from me to Jasper. He just ducked his dead and continued slicing red peppers. Why hadn't he told them? I had just figured whatever I told one of them would eventually circulate its was around to the others.

"He glanced over your store to me but I don't think he's shared it with the others. And if you would rather not that is fine. But if you wouldn't mind I'd like to hear your story from you, not second hand." I didn't really mind telling the story.

So I did, I told him about how Peter saved me, and how he and Charlotte had accepted me so completely as their friend. He also asked me about my relationship with the wolves. I told him about Jacob. I didn't elaborate too much on our falling out, that was mine and Jacob's business.

"We have a treaty with the wolves." Carlisle informed me.

"Yeah, Alice mentioned that today. I'm glad. I'd hate to know that my two groups of friends were fighting." Carlisle smiled when I called them friends.

"May I speak to Bella for a moment?" Everyone focused on Edward. He'd just finished kneading the dough for Esme, and was wiping his hands on a towel.

"Go right ahead." Carlisle told him, looking at him expectantly.

Edward looked uncomfortable. "Alone."

"No way!" Rose and Emmett both snapped at him. Apparently Emmett had shared today's adventure with Rosalie and she wasn't happy about it. Jasper growled, and Alice took a protective step toward me.

Carlisle and Esme looked confused. "What's going on?" Esme asked looking worried.

"You just want to get her alone so you bagger her, or guilt her, or just yell at her again until you get you way!" Alice accused him.

"Edward! When did you yell at Isabella?" Esme asked in a disapproving voice.

"Bella please." I interrupted.

"Of course dear." She smiled at me and then turned a stern look back to Edward.

"When he almost killed her today!" Emmett said angrily.

"You what!" Carlisle voice rose just a bit from his soft tone in surprise.

"He hit the brakes nearly sending her flying through the windshield! Only Jasper grabbing her kept her from being hurt. All over her wanting to go down to the reservations to see her wolf friend. " Alice tattled.

"Edward how could you be so careless?" Esme asked sternly scolding him.

I felt sort of bad for him. He hadn't really hurt me and it's not like he'd meant to do it. I was still mad at him for his reaction, but there was really no point in all of them harboring it over him. I was done and over, I was fine.

Edward looked down at the ground looking sad. "That's what I wanted to talk to her about." He said quietly. "I need to apologize, and I would prefer to not have an audience. I promise I'm not trying to sway her decisions."

"Well that's up to Bella." Carlisle looked to me for an answer.

What would it hurt for me to hear him out? I was pretty sure that if he started to yell or growl at me again that Emmett, Jasper, Alice, or even Rosalie at this point would kick his ass for me. I sighed, "Sure." I hopped off the stool and followed Edward outside to the back deck grabbing my jacket on the way.

I wasn't sure why he'd wanted to come out side for. They could all probably still hear us. But it was pretty out here. The deck overlooked a little pond; there were little lighted lanterns on tall hooks around the pond. The sun had sunk down below the overcast clouds and the dimming light danced across the ponds surface.

He stood there for several minutes just looking at me. "Are you planning to speak or am I supposed to try and read your mind, cuz I'm pretty sure if you can't do it to me I can't do it to you."

"Why do you do that?" he asked. He didn't sound angry, he just sounded curious.

"What?" I wasn't sure what he was asking.

"You make jokes at every situation." He was still staring at me.

"I don't know, maybe it's a defense mechanism, or maybe it's because I'm not an over the hill vampire with no since of humor. Weren't you supposed to be apologizing? I was expecting more groveling than this." He chuckled then. Oh! Look at that I cracked him just a little. "If I'm not going to get groveling I at least want a cookie!" He gave a full out laugh. Yay for me!

"I am sorry that I up set you today. And I'm sorry that I almost hurt you, again." Well it wasn't a perfect apology. He'd thought he'd chosen his word carefully enough that I wouldn't notice that he hadn't apologized for how he'd talked about the wolves, or for trying to tell me what to do.

"And?" I wanted the full apology, I would take no less. I turned away from the pond and looked at him. Then I looked past him into the house. I could see the kitchen from here. The others were flitting around, cooking and cleaning. They were laughing and talking. Well except for Jasper. He kept glancing out at us as he moved around the kitchen. When he wasn't doing that he was glaring at Alice. Every time he moved anywhere near her she would move to do something else. He looked so sad. I wanted to be back in there with them. I wanted to talk and laugh with the others. I wanted to make sure that Jasper talked and laughed with us. I wanted to be happy and part of everything. He looked so separate for the others.

"Bella?" I looked back at Edward. He'd been talking this whole time and hadn't heard a word. "Were you even listening?"

"Yeah, I got the gist of it. Your sorry. Don't worry Edward, its over I'm fine I'm not going to hang this over your head. But you don't talk about Jacob and the pack that way and you're not going to talk to me like you own me." I didn't want him to go through it all over again. I wanted to go in. I wanted to spend time with the others.

"Really!" he looked triumphant. "You accept my apology?"

"Sure if you really mean you're sorry." Just hurry up and let me go in I'm freezing! I thought shivering.

He flittend to me wrapping his cold arms around me. It made me shiver again; I could feel it through my jacket. "Oh, thank you Bella." He bent his head to kiss me. I put a hand up in front of his face keeping him from making contact with me. "what's wrong I though you said…"

I cut him off and stepped away from him. "Look just because I forgive you doesn't mean you get full access to the kingdom. You have to earn it. Prove you're not going to continue trying to bully me, or the others." I looked past him again, Jasper caught my eyes, and he was smiling at me. He winked at me and went back to what he was doing. "I have no intention of continuing a relationship with someone who only wants to control me and everything around me." I reached up and patted him on the arm. "We'll be friends, and if you can prove you can be a good boy then we'll see okay." He shook his yes, but looked a little surprised that I hadn't just fallen into his arms. "Good now let's go in I'm starving and freezing my assets of here." He followed me in and went back to helping his family

"Is there anything I can do?" I offered.

"Nope," Alice chirped. "Esme just put your pizza in, and I think the boys are going hunting while we start our slumber party!" she was bouncing around happily. She sort of reminded me of one of those cute little, overly excited Chihuahua puppies that barked and jumped on you until you showed it attention. "So you go to your room and put on your P.J.'s and meet me and Rose up in my room."

"We'll see you later Bells." Emmett said giving me a peck on the cheek, then flitting to Rosalie and kissing her so passionately that I had to turn away. They made me feel like a peeper.

"Get a room!" Jasper told them. He gave me a one armed hug, and then looked at me in the eyes. "I'll see ya later half-pint." It sounded more like a promise than a good bye.

"Okay, have fun." I told him.

Edward came over to me, making Jasper step back. He hugged me more firmly than Jasper had, wrapping both arms around me. "See you later." He turned to look at Jasper as he let me go. His sounded somewhere between a promise to me and warning to Jasper.

"Don't forget you owe Emmett a bear." I reminded him. I didn't bother telling him to have fun. He wouldn't. He didn't know how.

Carlisle looked a little surprised that I'd been so understanding and joking about their feeding habits. "Have fun girls. And Bella it has been a sincere pleasure meeting you. I look forward to seeing you around much more." He took my hand and squeezed it gently.

"It was nice meeting you to. And I'd love that." His had sounded so much prettier than mine.

With that Carlisle kissed Esme, lovingly. Theirs was a sweet brush of lips, he leaned his forehead to hers "I love you." she told him.

"I love you to." Then he was grabbing Emmett by the back of shirt pulling him out of Rosalie's embrace. "Come on lover boy. She'll still be here when we return."

Jasper looked back at me again before he flitted after the others. He'd left without a word to Alice. She didn't seem to notice. She was popping popcorn, filling bowls with different kinds of chips, putting several different kinds of drinks in cans and bottles into a bucket of ice.

"Alice I can't eat all that." I laughed at her.

"Oh just go get changed and meet us up stares!" she smiled at me and continued on her mission.

I went to the spare bedroom where Jasper had put my things. It was simple but beautiful. One wall like every other room in the house was a floor to ceiling window. It had cream colored gauzey curtains. The king sized bed was a lovely four poster bed made of what looked like mahogany wood. It had the same gauzey material draped around the top of the bed, and running down each post. There was matching nightstand, and a large fireplace. The wood floors that matched the bed were the same as through the rest of the house. The attached bath room was the same cream color as the curtains in the room, with a claw foot tub that had gold accents.

I didn't see my bag anywhere so I headed into the closet. It was almost as big as my bedroom at home. It was empty except for my duffle and some silky material hanging just above where my bag was. It had a note attached to the hanger.

_I thought you might like this. _

_ Love _

_ Alice_

I picked the silk covered hanger up. It was a dark blue silk camisole and matching shorts. I smiled. My mother had tried many times to get me to stop wearing Phil's old sweats or my own seats to bed and try something more girly. She'd bought me several pair of pajama's that looked like this for Christmas a couple of years ago. They were in my drawer at Charlie's with the tags still on them.

I thought about politely refusing the gift. But I knew better. Alice would find a way to get me into them. She seemed like a pushy little pixie. Besides it was a slumber party just us girls, I had no doubt that both of the beautiful girls would be decked out in silky jammies as well. So I put them on.

The camisole was for fitting a just a little low cut, the shorts hit me about mid-thy. I never ever shoed this much skin. I was a little chilly to. I'd just make an appearance in Alice's room and then tell her I needed to change to stay warm. That way she could see me in them and I wouldn't hurt her feelings.

I tiptoed out of the room in search of Alice's room, as I shut the door and turned I ran into something hard, and firm, and human shaped. I looked up into Jasper's face as he caught me from stumbling backwards. "Oh I'm sorry." I said quickly and wrapped my arms around myself feeling severally under dressed.

Jasper's POV

I couldn't take my eyes off her. She was barely covered. What little bit of material did cover her was form fitting, and the midnight blue color looked wonderful on her. "I'm sorry darlin' I didn't mean to bump into you. I just forgot my phone in my study." She looked past me into my study. She was looking at my bookshelves. I remembered she liked to read. "Ya want to see somethin'?"

She looked up at me, her brown eyes devastatingly beautiful. "You're not going to show me anything weird or gross are you?" she chuckled.

"No dummy, come on." I couldn't keep from smiling when she was near me. Her happiness was contagious. I pushed the study door open farther and motioned her in.

"Wow." She breathed. "May I?" she motioned to one of my book shelves. I shook my head in response and stood back watching her.

She'd forgotten her unease of being in the skimpy night clothes that I was sure were Alice's doing. They seemed more the pixies style than Bella's. She ran her hand over the spines. My study was large but had little furniture. Just a large mahogany desk, two high back chairs covered in a green velvet material. I had a small fire place, and the small closet. Other than that every other space on the walls from floor to ceiling other than the windowed wall that was in almost all the rooms was covered in books.

"Some of these are originals! How did you get these?" she motioned to a small section where the books were behind a glass case. I had original prints from Ernest Hemingway, Charles Dickens, George Bernard Shaw, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, and William Shakespeare.

"You tend to collect things when you're as old as we are." I stepped close to her. I loved the awe and joy that was on her face as she studied my books. "You're welcome to borrow whatever you like."

"Really?" Again a burst of joy flowed through her.

"Of course." I reached up and placed a stray strand of her behind her ear. I didn't want it to obstruct my view of her face.

Rosalie cleared her throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Alice is getting impatient. I turned to my sister. She was wearing night clothes like Bella's, only hers lavender and had lace traveling down the center showing off her cleavage and stomach. She had a knowing smile on her face.

"Um, yeah I'm sorry Bella; I didn't mean to keep you from the fun. I'll see you later." I rushed out of the house and ran in the direction the rest of my family had left in. I needed to get some distance between me and the girl before I did something stupid.

Bella's POV

I'd been sure he was about to kiss me when Rose interrupted us. Thank god for her. if I'd let him kiss me it would have ruined any friendship I would have with Alice. I still felt guilty when Rose led me into the very pink rooms that belong to the little pixie.

Her carpet, her walls the bedspread, everything was different shades of pink. "wow." I was all I could say.

"Do you like it?" she gestured around the room. She was jumping around wearing a short deep purple night gown that hit her just above mid-thy.

"Um yeah, it's definitely you." I smiled at her as I wondered where the hell Jasper fit in, in this room.

"I know right! Anyway let's get started!" and the chaos began.

Alice gave me the works. Rosalie was always working on one side of me while Alice was on the other. They started with waxing my legs and eyebrow, which I think was just a form of torture it hurt so bad. While they gave me a pedicure, Esme brought me my pizza, then left me alone with her two torturous daughters.

Once the pedi was done, they moved to my hands giving a manicure. They'd done both my nails and toes in natural pale pink with white tips. After that they moved to my hair insisting on washing it out for me in the sink and styling it. They wound up leaving it loose but whatever they had done to it, the waves were loose and soft, I ran my fingers through it and it felt like silk.

After that came the facial, which Rosalie dutifully took pictures of for Emmett. I stuck my tongue out at the camera. Once they were done there they moved on to a full makeup make over. I don't really like makeup; or rather I just don't know how to properly apply it. But Alice and Rose had given my eyes a smoldering, smoky look and made my lips look fuller and poutier, and it didn't fell like I was wearing a thousand pounds of cake on my face. I liked it. I was having a much better time than I had suspected I would.

"Did I miss it?" Emmett's head poked into the room. "Damn Bells, you clean up good!"

I laughed at him. "Thanks Emmy-Pooh."

He flitted to Rose, "But you are the most beautiful creature I've ever come in contact with." He kissed her. I had to look away again. It was like they were consumed by each other. "So I guess I missed the facial?" he smiled at me as he pulled away from Rose.

"Nope you're just in time." Rose said with a wicked grin. Emmett's grin disappeared.

It hadn't really taken a lot of prodding and Emmett was sitting in my place letting us give him a facial, painting his toe nails, and applying makeup.

I couldn't help it I clicked pictures of him with my phone. "Oh! Let me see your phone I want to send those to me!" Rosalie squealed. When she handed me the phone back she said. "I went ahead and put all of our numbers in your directory in case you need us." She winked at me.

"Thanks Rose." I yawned. I looked at the clock it was almost one in the morning. "Sorry guys but the human needs sleep."

They all gave me hugs and said goodnight. Emmett said if he found the pictures of him floating around school he'd find a way to embarrass me that I would never forget. I just laughed at him.

I passed Jasper's study the door was closed. I wanted to say good night but I didn't want to disturb him if he was busy so I went to my room. I did however send him the pictures of Emmett to his phone. Then I text Charlotte and told her good night. She'd called earlier but Alice answered for me since my nails were still wet and said I'd call her later. She text me goodnight and she'd talk to me tomorrow.

I didn't even have the energy to wash the makeup off I just crawled into the bed, and curled up under the covers. It was like laying on clouds. Just as I started to drift off my phone vibrated.

_Jasper: Emmett is such an easy mark._

_ Me: Right! What are you doing? _

_ Jasper: Reading in my study. What are you doing?_

_ Me: Laying in bed. Hey were the hell is all your stuff? That whole room is all Alice._

I shouldn't have asked that. It was rude and none of my business. But I was just so curious. We'd passed by Emmett and Rosalie's room on the way to Alice's and you could clearly see that a couple lived in it. It had distinct signs of both of them. Jasper was nowhere in Alice's room. The answer took a little while to come through.

_Jasper: She kicked me out today._

_ Me: I'm so sorry, is there anything I can do for you?_

_ Jasper: No sweet heart, I'm fine. I think I'm happier this way. And don't be sorry it wasn't your fault._

_ Me: what happened?_

I wanted to go into the next room and comfort him. But if I did the rest of the house would hear. I settled for the texts. No one could hear them. And I didn't want to cause more problems.

_ Jasper: I don't really know. We haven't really been okay for a while now. I guess it just came to a head recently. _

_ Me: well if you need a bed you can share this one._

To late I realized how that would sound in a text.

_Me: I DIDN'T MEAN THAT THE WAY IT SOUNDED! I JUST MEANT IT'S A HUGE BED AND THERE WAS PLENTY OF ROOM FOR THE BOTH OF US. I DIDN'T MEAN "SHARE" THE BED JUST SHARE THE BED YOU KNOW HWAT I MEAN?_

The answering text took so long coming back that I thought he wouldn't text me back at all. I was afraid I'd scared him off by making him think I was hitting on him. Finally the phone vibrated again.

_Jasper: what are you doing Sunday?_

_ Me: um, nothing why?_

_ Jasper: you want to go somewhere with me? _

_ Me: sure. _

_ Jasper: goodnight darlin', sweet dreams. _

_ Jasper: I knew what you meant. If I was a braver man I would take you up on it. if I was less of a gentleman I would have pretended I didn't know what you meant. _

_ Me: goodnight, I'd say sweet dreams but you don't sleep. _

I fell asleep with a big smile on my face, wondering where he was going to take me. I was a little worried how it would look if I went somewhere with him since him and Alice were having so much trouble. But I couldn't bring myself to tell him no.

I drifted off to sweet dreams about a vampire with honey colored hair and a sweet southern accent.

Here's chapter 11

I hope you guys enjoy.

Feel free to comment and review.

Next chapter we'll see Jacob and more Bella/Jasper time.


	12. Chapter 12

As always I own nothing. I' m just doing this for funzies.

Chapter 12

Bella's POV

I woke the next morning, feeling very well rested. The bed really was like sleeping in clouds. Any my dreams had been wonderful. I dreamed of Jasper. Nothing naughty, we just sat in his study reading together. We were so content, and happy just to be in each other's company. It was nice.

I got up and looked at my cellphone. I'd slept till almost ten am. I must have really been exhausted I never slept past seven or eight in the morning on weekends. I looked in the bathroom mirror; my hair was still in soft, silky waves around my face. I decided to pin it up while I took a quick back so that I could wear it this way all day. As I scrubbed my face clean of the makeup, I thought about Jasper. I wanted to know where we were going tomorrow.

I'd ask him before I left so I'd know what to wear. I still felt so bad for him and Alice. I felt sort of like I was betraying her by going somewhere with Jasper. But then I felt like I would be betraying him if I told him I couldn't go. I got out of the tub after I was clean and wrapped an oversized towel around me underneath my arms. As I was pulling the clip I'd used to put my hair up I walked back into the room to get my clothes.

"Hi." Alice's voice startled me.

I let out another "Eep!" noise. "What is it with vampires? You're always sneaking up on me!" I scolded her.

"No I'm not. I knocked and you didn't answer." She was smiled a brilliant smile at me. "Besides this was only my first time to surprise you. And it's really not our fault if you're doing things you don't want others to see." She was holding a hanger with material on it in her hands. I was afraid it was for me. "I really thought your little in your face dance was cute yesterday though."

I could feel my face flushing bright red as I remembered. "I was just about to get dress, was there something you needed?" I was trying not to be rude but I was getting really uncomfortable standing there in nothing but a towel.

"Well, you said that this was going to be your first time seeing your friend in a while. And I noticed that most of your clothes consist of jeans, tee shirts, and those button-up flannels." I raised my eye brows in what's your point look. "I thought you might want to dress up a little. You know make him regret taking off on you and show him what he's been missing."

"Well he hasn't been missing much." I told her with a chuckle. But I thought about it for a minute. I wanted him to suffer just a little. I knew I wasn't beautiful like my vampire friends, but I didn't really consider myself ugly either. But last night Alice and Rosalie had made me look hot. "What the hell let's do it."

"Oh yay!" she squealed and then proceeded to tow me through the house in just the towel. "Esme is making you breakfast. We'll be done just in time for you to eat. Most everyone else is out for the day already." She reassured me.

But as we passed Emmett and Rosalie's room I heard him whistle. Damn! He'd tease me endlessly over this.

Alice tried to make sure I was comfortable in my outfit and still make is a little dressy. We went through a little trial and error with her putting me in shirts that were way to revealing, and trying to get me to wear a dress, but we finally found a middle ground.

I was wearing my own black skinny jeans, with a thin, low cut, grey handkerchief hem sweater that hugged my bust and waist before it flared out. She'd found me a black tank top to wear underneath so I wasn't showing off more skin that I was comfortable with. We'd argued about the shoes, she tried to put me in a pair of six inch black red platform heels. I'd refused and she settled for a pair of black leather bootlets with a small heel so I wouldn't break my neck.

"I think it'll do." She said with pride. "Now come in here and I'll do your makeup."

I followed her into the bath room and perched on the counter top while she worked on me. As she did I started thinking about Jasper again. "Alice," I hedged. You should not be doing this it's none of your business!

"Yes," she continued to work on my face.

"Can I ask you something and you won't get mad at me?" None of your business! I ignored the voice in my head.

"Of course Bella, you can ask me anything I would never be angry with you for your curiosities." She smiled sweetly.

"Why did you throw Jasper out of your room?" she stopped working. She seemed to be thinking about how to answer. "Y-you don't have to answer if you don't want to." I quickly put in.

"No it's not that. I'm just trying to figure out how to word it." she was quiet again for a minute, but she continued doing my makeup at a much slower pace now. "Jasper and I," she stopped. "We just," she stopped again. She was quiet for another few minutes thinking hard. Then she seemed to decide something. "I've had many new visions since you came along. I've seen things that I never thought I would see."

I thought about that. "I thought you couldn't see my future clearly enough to understand it." At least that's what I had picked up from their conversations about her seeing my future.

"I can't, I don't know why but your future is constantly shifting, never solidifying. I have seen a few things that are almost definite. But the visions I've been having that are not about you, they are about others. Some of them are people I've never seen before, and I don't understand why I would get their futures while I was searching for yours, because you're not in the visions. "

"Should I leave, would that make things better?" I asked sadly.

"No! you are not going anywhere!" was her immediate answer. "When I see you leaving, the visions don't stop they shift. I only see the path that a person is on when they are on it, if they change their minds about something the vision changes. If you leave…. Well you aren't leaving so it doesn't matter. We don't want you to leave. We love you." she smiled at me.

"You know, you didn't really answer my question." I told her with a smile. She had tried to cleverly evade my question.

"Jasper and my relationship has been slowly changing for a very long time. We've grown apart very quickly lately, there are many reasons for that, of which I'm not going to tell you." she smiled at me.

"Don't you love him?" my voice was sad and quiet.

"I don't know how to answer that." She said putting down the makeup brush in her hand. "I care for him, I did love him. If I hadn't I wouldn't have married him. But things have happened, and paths have been set into motion that can't be changed. I need you to believe that what I do is the right thing. I will tell you what I can when I can, but not everything I see can be told. Just by speaking about it I could alter the events."

I thought about that. She was begging me with her eyes to believe her and to trust her. "Ok Alice. I trust you." and I did. Something else dawned on me then. "You said you saw several things that are almost certain, what they are."

She seemed to be considering what to tell and what to keep to herself. Her eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you asking me?"

That was a little confusing, but I thought I understood. She could only answer certain question for me if I asked her directly. What did I really want to know? I didn't have to think long. I had wondered this question since the minute I met Peter and Charlotte. I almost craved it since meeting the Cullen's, no matter what names they went by in public, seeing them interact with each other last night I knew that they were all Cullens, using the Hale name was just for the human façade. They were the Cullen family. I wanted to be part of them to be included in that family, and in extension be part of Peter and Charlotte's family as well. And not as a week human who was had to be taken care of and protected. I wanted to be able to protect them. I'd gotten attached to all of them so quickly. I loved them all. I wanted to be one of them.

Alice smiled broadly. "Good girl." I understood. The minute I had thought about. Once I consciously decided I wanted to be one of them, she saw it. my extended future had solidified at least. Now we just had to figure out what she couldn't see in-between.

I bit my lip and smiled. "Really?" she smiled and put a finger to her lip to shush me. I jumped off the counter and hugged her. my sister, she would be my sister one day. They other's would be my brothers and sister. Carlisle and Esme would be my parents. Peter and Charlotte my extended family, my aunt and uncle I decided. She hugged me back and we jumped up in down in the embrace like excited twelve year old girls.

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face after that. I understood that I couldn't tell anyone for the time being, or she wouldn't have shushed me. But I couldn't hide my joy. I took one last look at myself in the mirror. She'd made me into the hot girl I'd been the night before again, I almost looked like them. I approved. Jacob would be drooling.

"Wont it be to chilly for such a thin sweater?" I asked to make sure we didn't need to make a last minute wardrobe change.

"Nope it's sunny today over Forks today. It'll be warm enough. Just don't go into Seattle or Port Angeles. It's still overcast and chilly there. Neat my own personal weather women. I was betting mine was better than the guy on TV.

We went down stair so that I could eat before I left. The house was pretty much empty except for Esme flitting around the kitchen. "Good morning, you look wonderful dear." She greeted me with a smile and a hug. I hugged my future adopted mother. "I made you some waffles, eggs, bacon, and there is a bowel of sliced fruit there. feel free to get anything else you like from the kitchen, it was all purchased for you anyway. "she led me to the barstool I'd perched on the night before while they had all cooked for me. "I'm sorry but I have to run into town today, but please make you self at home."

"thank you for breakfast; I'll have to be running after I eat though. I made plans to see an old friend today." I just couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

"Alright, have a nice time honey." She kissed me on top of the head and flitted away. Esme was impossible not to love. She was so naturally loving and nurturing.

Once she was gone Alice sat with me in silence as I hate. She just smiled at me as I practically vibrated out of my chair with excitement. After I was done I washed my dishes, and said a short goodbye to her. I tossed my bag into the passenger seat of my truck and headed for Jakes. I had wanted to say good bye to the others but everyone was gone. Alice had said Emmett and Rose had taken off to find somewhere to play off into the wood so that they didn't scare me with the horrid sounds they would make. I just laughed. Edward had taken off this morning to get his passenger door fix. I wondered what had happen to it but she just smiled a knowing smile and said nothing. She didn't know where Jasper had gone to. She didn't seem sad about that, but I did.

I called Charlie to let him know I was on my way to the reservation after I left. "Hey dad how's the fishing going?" I asked when he answered.

"It would be going better if these two old clucking hens would stop talkin and scaring away all the fish. Are you on your way home or are you still at your friend's house?"

"No I'm on my way down to see Jake."

"Well okay then." He sounded way too happy about it. "we'll order some take out when we get back to the house and we can eat at Billy and Jake's." I loved how happy Charlie sounded. I realized how much I'd missed him since I'd stopped coming out to Forks.

"Okay I'll see you soon dad I'm almost there." my happiness wavered as I hung up. I would be one of them. I would be different. I wouldn't be able to stay with my dad. He couldn't know the secret. I would be trading one family and one life for a whole new one. I felt like a bad person. I didn't know if I could abandon Charlie now that I was back with him. My father's house wasn't disgusting or anything but he needed someone to take care of it. he needed someone to take care of him.

My phone rang. I looked down at it. Alice.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Stop it and you stop it now! You're messing with my visions!" her visions had shifted when my anxiety kicked in.

"I'm not changing my mind." I assured her. "I just have to make sure everything is taken care of beforehand." I told her.

"Bella you have time don't worry. This isn't going to happen tomorrow. Everything will be fine. Now go have fun with the puppies." She laughed and hung up before I could respond.

I trusted her. I was back to almost as happy as I had been when I pulled up in front of Jake's house. I climbed out and started up to the front door. Jacob opened it and came out starting at me as if didn't know me. He had changed a little. His hair was still short, but he looked taller, and more muscular if that were even possible. He was wearing a black tee-shirt which was stretched tight over his upper body, and a pair of relaxed fit jeans and no shoes.

"Can I help you?" his voice was the name though. Still deep, still Jacob.

I put my hand on my hip and stared at him. "If I have to come up there and swat you on the nose again I'll use the newspaper! Don't act like you don't know who I am Jacob Ephraim Black!"

His face split in a grin and he lurched off the porch at me scooping me up in a bear hug and swinging me around before setting me back down. "Bella! I'm so happy to see. Why haven't you called me before now? You look great." He raked his eyes up and down my body appreciatively.

"Thanks Jake, so do you." he gave me another hug and then stiffened.

He pulled away looking down at me with an odd look on his face. "Did Peter and his wife come with you or something?"

"No why?" that was such an odd question.

"Because you smell like one of them." He stared at me again harder.

It took me a minute to figure out what he was staring at me for. I shoved him back away from me. "I'm human Jake." He had been staring at me trying to figure out if he'd missed the fact that I'd been turned. "you can still hear my heart idiot."

"So who's your new friend then?" he asked a little more light heartedly. More like my Jacob.

"are you telling me you can smell the Cullen's on me?" I asked in disbelief. I didn't know his wolfy side worked in his human form.

"Leave it to you to make friends with the first monsters you could find." He laughed at me. "and yes you smell too sweet. It kind of stinks."

"I do not stink!" I fell back into place with Jacob like we'd never been apart. It was easy to joke with him. I'd been so happy to see him again that I'd forgotten that I'd been mad at him. "What the hell do you mean by disappearing for almost a year? I haven't gotten a call, a letter, nothing!" I poked my finger into his face.

"I'm sorry Bella, I really had no choice you know that." He looked sad; I hated that look on his face. I wanted to wipe it away. I wanted my happy carefree friend back.

I sighed. "I guess I'll forgive you just this once, but don't do it again!" I tried to scold him, but couldn't keep the smile from creeping out as he smiled down at me.

"So how long do I get with you, what are we going to do?" he was like a giant excited puppy.

"Well show me around, we'll just hang for a while, I'm not really dressed for much more." I wished I would have just worn my own clothes now. We could have done something fun.

"That's cool I can introduce you to the guys. Next weekend you can dress for something more exciting." He grinned, and ran into the house to get a pair of boots that he didn't even bother lacing. He took my hand and dragged me down to the La Push beach.

On the way we talked. He asked me again about my new friends. He wanted to know if they were treating okay. "so are you dating one of them or something?"

The question shocked me. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well I always assumed you'd end up with a blood sucker, back when you introduced me to Peter and his wife. You were so comfortable with them, it was like natural to you." he said swinging our hands as we walked. "Plus there's no way you smell that much like them without having one of them all over you." he laughed.

"I stayed the night with them last night. Alice played dress up with me. And several of them hugged me. I'm not dating any of them." I told him. "Although it's not for lack of trying."

"Which one is Alice the blond or the tiny one? And which one's heart are you breaking?" he smiled at me at the last.

"Alice is the dark haired pixie." I told him. "And I've never broken anyone's heart."

He looked at me with one eyebrow crooked, "What about me?" he asked and looked away from me quickly.

That stung. "You were the one who stopped calling." I took my hand from his. "Besides we always made better friends anyway." It was the truth, the one and only awkward kiss we'd shared had been horribly awkward.

He chuckled. "Yeah I know. But if you do end up with the leach that's chasing you, I'll eat his arm if he hurts you. Also I get first dibs on you if it crashes and burns." He laughed again.

"You're a jerk!" I laughed back at him. He took my hand again and we began walking again. There was a big group of guys splashing in the water and sitting in around talking. There were twelve of them to total including Jacob.

"Hey guys, this is Bella." He introduced me loudly making every one look at me at once.

"Well holly shit, she really exists!" One of them spoke up. They all laughed.

They were all huge like Jake. But their height and muscle mass varied. And none of them were quite as big as Jake. Each of them came forward, shaking my hand. The one who'd spoke up had been Quil Ateara. He and Embry Call, were Jakes best friends. Many of them asked about my smell, a few of them looking at me the way Jacob had, trying to figure out if I was human.

But after a little while everyone seemed comfortable with me there. they began joking with me the way Jacob did. There was one named Paul who seemed adamant on letting me know what a bad idea it was for me to hang out with "Blood suckers" as he put it. I just shrugged him off.

We sat on the beach for a few hours joking and talking. I liked the wolves. "So is this all of you?" I asked looking around at the big group.

"No." Jacob answered. " there are four more of us. Their on patrol. We take it in shifts."

"Speaking of which, boss we need to switch. " Quil said. Boss?

"You're the leader of the pack?" I laughed in shock.

"Um, yeah we'll talk about it later." He got up and started talking to a few of the others. He looked like he was giving orders.

"So you know the Cullen's huh?" a young voice said from my left. I turned to see the smallest of the guys sit down next to me.

"Yeah, I'm sorry who you are again." I was trying so hard to remember him from when they had all introduced themselves.

"Seth, don't worry about it. there are a lot of us to have to remember." He smiled and shook my hand again.

"Oh! You're Emmett's friend!" He played some sort of football game with him. "How did you meet him?"

He smiled sheepishly, "I was curious about them, after I started to phase. I'd never seen a vampire before. So I went over to their lands to take a peek at them. He caught me. He was really nice and we just got to talking, we got a lot in common. " he really genuinely liked Emmett. But really how could anyone not. He was so big brotherly and loveable. Like a giant teddy bear. "he keeps inviting me over to play games with him but they won't let me." He grumbled and motioned to the rest of the pack.

"I got to play with him last night." I told him. " I beat him at some racing game."

"Wished I could have seen that. I bet he acted like a big baby." He really knew Emmett. He probably would have gotten all sulky if she hadn't embarrassed herself before he had a chance.

My phone rang. "Hi dad whets up?" I answered it.

"You and Jake get home foods here." He told me.

"K." and I hung up. I looked at my phone. Already four, the day had flown by. "Hey! Jake foods ready we got to go." He held a finger up to me and continued to talk to the guys.

I got up walked over to him, pushing my way in between him and the guy he was talking to. I reached up and thumped him on the end of the nose. If hurt just as much as it had when I'd thumped Edward in the car. I ignored it again. "Don't ignore me, wolf boy. Charlie called we've got to go." The others laughed and started making fun of him for being whipped by the "vampire girl".

He sighed and ignored them. "Okay Bells lets go."

I stood my tip toes and patted his head. "Good boy." I giggled and ran as he ran after me.

"When I catch you, you're going to be sorry!" he laughed. The others laughed loudly behind us.

I knew he was letting me get away, but I was having fun. We ran all the way back to the house before I finally stumbled over a rock. Jacob was there before I hit the ground making sure I didn't hit the ground to hard. I scraped my hand but that was the worst of it.

I lay on the ground with him above me, "I told you, that you'd be sorry when I caught your." He said in low husky voice, with a wicked grin. "Now you'll pay." He began tickling me.

"Jake stop!" I laughed loudly and tried to get away.

"Oh no you don't!" He put a knee on each side of my legs so I couldn't get away, and continued to tickle.

"When I get up from here I'm going to kick your ass!" I yelled through the giggles.

"Bella language!" Charlie yelled from the house. "You two stop rolling around in the yard and come eat, we got burgers and fries."

Jake helped me up and dusted me off. "You look awfully nice." Charlie said as we came through the door, taking a double take at me.

"Alice decided I needed a makeover." I told him. After saying hi to Jacob's dad Billy, he and I grabbed our food and took it out to a metal garage out behind his house where he was keeping an old car he was working on.

We sat in the car as we ate. "So pack leader huh?" I said wanting him to elaborate. "I thought you said Sam Uley was Alpha last time I talked to you about this stuff."

"Um, yeah. He was." He looked uncomfortable. It wasn't like him . He didn't hide things. He almost always blurted out whatever was on his mind, no matter how stupid or rude it was. "We had three human drinking vampires come through here a few months back. A red-headed woman, a blond guy, and dark headed guy. " He choked up a little. I knew what was coming. "Sam didn't make it. But neither did they."

"I'm so sorry Jake." I leaned over and hugged him. He hugged me back tightly, I felt him shake as he cried a little. I held him until he stopped. I hadn't been a fan of Sam, he'd been the one to give the order that Jake couldn't contact me anymore. Once he was done I asked. "How did that make you leader?"

"My grandfather Ephraim Black was the last chief of the tribe. He was the last one left that had been in our last pack, before we all started shifting again. I was supposed to be the alpha from the beginning but I didn't want it. but when Sam died, I couldn't leave them with no leader. " I was amazed that Jake had stepped up for this. He'd told me that the thing he hated the most about joining the pack was the loss of his freedom. Taking over the pack had surely stressful.

Then something occurred to me. "How long ago is a few months ago?"

He was looking really uncomfortable now. "You know Bells I don't really remember." He hedged.

"Well let's just narrow this down, are we talking two or three months ago or longer?" I turned in the seat to face him.

"Bells,"

"How long Jake!" I snapped.

"About eight months ago." He sounded like it hurt him to get the words out.

"You let me think you couldn't have any contact with me this whole time and you could have started talking to me again two months after I stopped hearing from you!" I got out of the car.

He came around to stop me from storming out of the garage. "Bells, stop! This had been hard on me. I hated not seeing or talking to you! But I was trying to get everything under control! A few members of the pack bucked against me becoming alpha because wanted to associate with a girl who keeps vampires as friends. I wound up having to fight for my position. After that I've been trying to get use to this whole alpha shit. It's hard and stressful. Every pack member comes to me with every little problem they have. " his eyes begged me to believe him.

I did. I was still mad, but I couldn't bring myself to make him feel bad for it. he'd been through so much already. We sat back down and talk for a little longer before Charlie yelled for me. Jake walked me to my truck, and hugged me tightly.

"I know you're still mad at me, but I wanted you to know that the pack will stand behind you if they hurt you. we'll protect you." he let go of me, and I got into the truck.

"Thanks Jake but I don't think you'll have to worry about that." I smiled again thinking of my new family. "They would never hurt me." We said good bye and I followed Charlie to the house.

I was happy to see two big boxes sitting on the front porch when we got home. The boxes we'd shipped from Phoenix the day I'd left had arrived. It was the things from my bedroom. Charlie helped me get them in and up the stairs. It was only six pm so I went into a cleaning frenzy. I wanted to get everything done tonight so I'd have the whole day with Jasper tomorrow.

I kicked off the shoes Alice had lent me and I swept, mopped, and dusted the kitchen. I also had to clean out the microwave. I don't think Charlie ever covered a dish before he just shoved it in to heat, and pop all over the inside.

I cleaned the bathroom from top to bottom, and I did a few loads of Charlie's laundry. I vacuumed and dusted the living room. I changed the sheets on his bed. When I was finally done I told him good night and headed to my room.

I emptied the two boxes. It was my purple bedding that I love so much, several stands of lantern lights that I strung around the ceiling. Photos of my mom and phil. Pictures of Charlie. My sketch pads and art box. My little boom box and my cd's. the rest was just little odds and ends that sat around on my dress and desk. I started to fill the boxes back up with all my old childhood stuff. It all fit into one box. I'd have Charlie put them in the attic tomorrow.

I packed all my stuffed animals into the second box, and wrote, To Emmy-Pooh on the side. He'd get a kick out of it. I was happy that it was mostly teddy bears.

I was exhausted by the time I was done. I text Charlotte goodnight letting her know I was sorry I hadn't called but I was beyond exhausted. She text me back telling me she loved me and warned that I better call her tomorrow . I promised I would. I grabbed my duffle bag from the floor where I'd left it, so I could just wear the sweats and tee shirt I hadn't gotten to wear the night before. When I unzipped it I stopped and stared into the bad. setting on top of my things were two books. With a sticky not on them.

Bella,

You didn't pick out any books, so I took the liberty to pick these for you. You're welcome to keep them. I have more of them. Sweet dreams darlin'. Get plenty of sleep, I'll see you bright and early.

Jasper Whitlock

It was the complete works of Jane Austen, and a collection of William Shakespeare. He'd seen which books my hands had lingered on in his study. They weren't his first editions, thankfully. I was afraid I'd ruin those, but they were still very aged leather bound books.

I loved them. I was too tired to read that night. I changed my clothes, sat the books on my night stand, and hugged the note to my chest as I curled up under my covers and drifted happily off to another wonderful dream about beautiful, thoughtful man who'd given the most perfect gift.

Here's chapter 12

I'm sorry for any mistakes, I'm half asleep at this point. I started finding myself switching from a Bella pov to a narrator pov on accident . I think I fixed them all. So if you notice any I'm sorry.

Sorry I had to kill off Sam, but I needed a way to make Jacob chief.

Next chapter has lots of jasper. I hope you guys enjoy.

Feel free to comment and review.


	13. Chapter 13

I own nothing; it's all just for funzies.

Chapter 13

Bella's POV

We sat in the study, Jasper behind his desk and me in one of the high back chairs near the fireplace. He was busy writing in a leather bound journal. I was reading one of the books he'd given me. We sat there with each other content just to be in each other's company.

The book was pulled from my grasp. He'd flitted over to me and was kneeling in front of me. The look in his golden eyes made my heart speed up. He sat the book down and moved closer to me, pushing his body between my knees so that I had one leg on each side of him. His strong arms slid around me, one around my waist pressing me firmly against him, the other sliding up my back to tangle in my hair and cup the back of my head.

I seemed to have no control over my own arms. My hands slid up his biceps and around his neck on their own without me even thinking about it, tangling in his tawny hair. He leaned forward and kissed me. Soft at first, just a gentle brush of his lips to mine, once, twice, a third time, before it became more heated. He kissed me hungrily, his tongue tracing my bottom lip, asking for access.

I had no problem allowing him access. I parted my lips and his tongue swept the inside of my mouth looking for my own to dance with. He kissed me like he would consume me from the mouth down. I moaned into his mouth, it seemed to ignite a stronger need inside him.

The hand that rested around my waist began moving down sliding over my bottom and squeezed gently. I moaned again, and he took it as a good sign and lifted me from the chair, keeping one had again my back to hold me to him and the other still on my bottom, and I moved my legs to lock around his waist. He stood only for a moment, just long enough to move us. He laid me down on the plush green rug in front of the fireplace. He continued kissing me, only pulling back long enough for me to take a breath when needed. I hated having to breathe; I never wanted him to stop kissing me. His lips were cold against mine, but wasn't unpleasant. It just made me more aware of ever touch, every caress, it was driving me mad. I wanted more, so much more.

His body hovered over mine, he supported himself on one are, so he didn't put too much weight on me. I kept my arms wrapped securely around his neck, like I was afraid he'd stop any minute and I'd explode from the passion fuelled pressure growing inside of me.

His hand that had been on my bottom traveled up to my hip, then higher to waist, sliding under the hem of my tee shirt. I shivered as his fingers trailed along my stomach and moved higher. He messaged my breast through my bra. His touch was light but still firm.

He made a frustrated sound and pulled away from me long enough to slide the shirt up and over my head, I reluctantly unlocked my legs from around him to allow him to move. Tossing the clothing across the room he was back above me quickly. He pressed his lower body to mine more securely; I could feel how very happy he was to be spending "quality" time with me. His hand went back to my breast; he pulled the material down to allow him more contact. I gave a gasp at his cold touch. He moved his hips against mine causing a wonderful feeling friction between my legs. Tiny little shocks of excited electricity ran up and down my back. I was light headed, and felt like I was floating.

He took his hand away from my breast, and I whimpered in protest. But he quickly replaced it with his mouth, running his tongue across the already taut nipple. I arched my back up off the rug trying to press it more firmly to his mouth, and cried out in a low voice, "Jasper."

He moved his mouth back to mine. "I need you so badly darlin'" he breathed across my lips. His words seemed to ignite something primal inside of me. My arms left his neck, and I grabbed a hand full of his shirt in each hand and ripped the light blue button down shirt open. I could hear buttons flying away and hitting things around the room.

He growled, removing the garment and tossing it away. The sound of his growl seemed to vibrate through me causing things down low to tighten almost painfully. I needed him so badly.

He seemed to know exactly what I needed. As he rotated his hips against me again making me gasp with my need, his hand went to the button on my pants. His eyes locked with mine as he moved, looking for any sign of discomfort, or hesitation. He found none. "I want you now Jasper." I cupped his face and brought him down for a slower kiss.

The button to my pants snapped open and I began to tremble with the anticipation. His fingers teased along the top of my panties. "No teasing." I growled at him, my voice dripping with desire.

He smiled a devastating crooked smile, his eyes gleaming with his own passion and desire. "Yes mam." His fingers breached the elastic band of my panties. My whole body shook with the anticipation. I closed my eyes and waited for his fingers to breach me.

When they didn't I opened my eyes. I blinked several times. . I groaned irritated. I was in my room curled in bed, still clutching the note. It was still dark outside. I glanced at the bedside clock. 12:30 am. What had woken me? I reached up above me clicking on the string of lantern lights. They gave off a faint glow that showed me my room without flooding the place with light to where it hurt my eyes.

"You know I'm pretty sure this can be classified as stalking and breaking and entering." I grumbled at the vampire across the room sitting in my rocking chair like he owned the place.

Edward's POV

I had stood on a thick tree branch outside her window as she'd cleaned her father's house. She'd hummed as she worked. Most humans rushed the days when they could escape their parents, and would argue when given responsibility like she had. She cooked for him, cleaned for him, even did the grocery shopping for her father. She did it all without argument, and without even being asked to. I'd heard her father tell her many times while she worked; she only brushed him off and kept humming. She loved taking care of him. She was very odd for a seventeen year old human.

I was happy when she finally went to her room and began working on it. I could see her through the window. I liked watching her. I wondered if that made me a deviant. Surely not, I wasn't watching her do anything personal. She was just unpacking some boxes she'd received and putting her childhood things back into the boxes once she'd emptied them.

I chuckled quietly as she wrote one of Rosalie's nicknames for Emmett on the side of the one she'd put all the stuffed animals' in. the big ofe would get a kick out of that. Her attachment to him made no since to me. She was witty and intelligent. Emmett was a 6'5' giant immortal man child. But she enjoyed his company and seemed to genuinely think his shenanigans were fun.

I wished I knew why I was so fascinated with this girl. I knew that she was quirky, and witty, and sure she was pretty. Even more so that Alice had done her makeup. She looked more mature, less like the pretty girl. You could see the women she was going to eventually become. And yeah I couldn't read her which immediately made her even more interesting to me. But there was something else. I just couldn't put my finger on it. I stared at her like I could will the information from her. But nothing came to me.

I couldn't understand the other's reaction to her either. Carlisle and Esme's reactions had been expected. They were so compassionate and loving. They would naturally love her right away. Emmett's reaction to was expected, he was just excited for a new playmate. Once her newness wore off he'd settle down. But Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie's reaction to her had been strange.

Alice loved her claiming she could see that they'd be friends. That would make since if she could really see Bella's future. But she claimed she couldn't see it clearly. I was sure Alice was hiding more from me but the little demon was to cunning for me to fish it out of her for the moment.

Jasper seemed to be just as taken with the girl as I was, but more so. He'd quickly settled into the role of protector. And he was making such stupid decisions when it came to her. He'd almost cheated on Alice with the girl. And now that Alice had kicked him out, which I thought was the best decision she'd ever made, he seemed to be focusing all his energy on the girl. He was different around her. Yesterday when I'd seen him laughing and having fun was a side of him we'd almost never seen.

Rosalie's reaction was the most bizarre though. She'd acted just like I thought she would at first, she'd hated the girl. She hadn't trusted her to keep our secret. She feared the girl would endanger Emmett knowing about us. But then yesterday at school something changed. When I'd seen Rosalie before she'd taken off leaving us to wait for Jasper and Bella by ourselves, she had been thinking of the girl. She seemed to be reconsidering her opinion of Bella. She'd taken off before I could get more out of her. I hadn't been able to read her when I'd gotten home because she'd stayed to close to Bella until I'd left. And when she hadn't been with Bella she'd disappeared altogether. I hadn't even seen her since Bella left the house this morning.

I started to turn around as she walked to her closet, but stopped as she picked up a bag and walked back to her bed. I thought she'd been about to get ready for bed and I didn't want to be a creepy peeper. I settle back into watching her.

She unzipped the bag and then just stared down into it. I leaned forward trying to see what had caught her attention but the damned bag was leaning to where I couldn't see. Her face was confused at first. She reached into the bag and picked up a piece of paper. Her face smoothed, into an expression of pure happiness and tenderness. She was touched by whatever was on the paper.

In that one instance, in just seeing that one look everything seemed to click for me. I understood what I saw in the girl, I understood what the others saw in her. She was beautiful, quirky, witty, caring, compassionate, understanding, she was fiercely loyal to friends even though she'd just met them. She was everything I'd see in her over the last two days, what I had been missing was that I loved all of those things about her. She wasn't odd, or strange, she was unique and wonderful. I loved Bella Swan

With that realization another one hit me. I had been so obsessed with protecting her. I'd even followed her to the reservation today and watched her from afar. I'd risked breaking the treaty to keep her safe. I almost had when the alpha tackled her in his yard and had his hands all over her. I'd been jealous of both Jasper and Emmett's attention to her, not to mention every other guy in town that I'd heard thinking about her. I'd been so drawn and fascinated by her. I was almost certain she was my mate. Why hadn't Alice seen that? Or maybe she had and that's what she was keeping from me. Why would she want to hurt me that way?

I had to sit down on the branch before I fell off. I looked back up at her to see she still had a small smile with the same tender look on her face. I wanted so much to be on the receiving end of that look from her. She pulled the books out of her bag and hugged them to her chest. My heart felt like it had just broken a little.

I knew those books. I'd been in Jasper's study many times and read everything in it hundreds of times by now. She'd been touch by something Jasper had given her. I had never like Jasper, but until this moment I had never truly hated him. He was stealing her away from me before I even had her.

I stared down at the ground sadly, unable to watch her looking so happy over a gift from another man. I'd acted so horribly towards her. I feared I'd never be able to make amends. I pushed the thoughts aside. She was my mate. If she didn't want me in the same way I wanted her that was fine. I would be there in whatever capacity she'd allow, just so I could be near her, to protect her, and to love her. I knew now that I had to prevent Alice's vision of the girl being turned. I would not damn my mate to this life. I would stay with her, protect her, and when she died I would follow soon after. No vampire could survive the loss of their mate once they'd found them.

Her light switched off and I realized she'd gone to bed. I'd been so deep in thought I hadn't noticed what she was doing. I watched her until I was sure she was asleep, and then I crept through her window. I'd originally come here tonight to try an experiment. I'd had only one or two instances of having trouble reading someone, but never not being able to hear them altogether. In those instances I'd been able to hear them just fine while I touched them. I had decided to wait until she was asleep just in case whatever was allowing her to block me only worked when she was conscious.

I stood over her. She was even more beautiful while she slept so peaceful and innocent. I shook myself I had to focus. I didn't want to wake her. I was sure she'd be furious that I was here while she slept. I reached down and lightly trailed my fingertips along her arm. Nothing, I still saw nothing. I tried for more contact. I placed my hand lightly on her cheek. There was no reaction other than I'd caused her to shiver due to the coldness of my skin. I took my hand away reluctantly and she started to toss restlessly. I slunk back into the shadows of her room afraid I'd woke her. She settled back down quickly, but started mumbling unintelligibly. I moved closer to her again, just to watch over her.

I was afraid at first that she'd been having a nightmare when she'd started to moan. But I caught the faint sent of desire coming off of her and smiled. My mate was having a naughty dream. When she spoke again it wasn't unintelligible babble. It was clear, and quiet, almost a whisper. "Jasper." She moaned.

I might just possible kill him. I sat down in her rocking chair and continued to watch her, my heart heavy. I tried to block out when she would moan, and say his name in her beautiful voice. But when she said she wanted him now, and then something about teasing I let a sob slip past my lips.

Her breathing changed, she opened her eyes. She reached above her and clicked a switch handing from a wire on the wall above her bed.

She didn't look surprised to see me there. She didn't yell. "You know I'm pretty sure this can be classified as stalking and breaking and entering." She said in a tired voice.

"What does he give you that I'm not?"

Bella's POV

His voice came out low almost a whisper. I'd barely heard it. He was staring at the floor. "Where we having a conversation that I don't remember? Because I have no idea what you're talking about." I waited for him to answer but he just continued to stare at the floor.

He was sort of scaring me. I'd never woke up with a vampire in my room, especially one that was acting so strange. I sat up and moved to the end of my bed putting myself a little closer to him. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea but realistically even if I moved further away from him it would do no good if he decided he wanted to hurt me.

"Edward," he looked up at me. His expression changed. He looked sad. "What's wrong?" I wasn't sure what to do. I was still mad at him, but if what Alice said was right he'd be my family one day. I didn't like seeing my family hurt. I didn't know how to comfort him though. I think if he hadn't kissed me the first night he'd been in my room it would be easier. I didn't think I wanted that kind of relationship with him now, so I didn't want to just rush over and console him and hug him and make him think it was something that it wasn't.

He stared at me. He seemed to decide something and the pain on his face smoothed away. He got up and walked over to me, I flinch when he put his hand on my cheek. He either didn't notice or it just didn't bother him. "Nothing is wrong Bella. I'm sorry I worried you. I'm just having a bad night full of surprises." He bent and kissed me on top of the head.

"So… you're okay now?" I asked still worried even more because of his sudden mood change. Maybe he was bipolar. Could vampires be bipolar?

"I' m fine now. What are you doing tomorrow?" his sudden subject change threw me for a minute.

"Um, "what was I doing? Oh yeah, I was going out with Jasper. I smiled. "I'm going out with a friend. " I didn't want to drop Jasper's name. I was sure that, that would anger him, and in his current mental state I didn't want to risk him hurting me. Or becoming too loud and Charlie coming in and getting hurt.

A look crossed his face that I could identify and then it was gone. "Will you come to dinner with me Monday night?" he pulled his hand from my face and crouched down on the balls of his feet so he was looking right into my eyes.

"You don't eat food." I reminded him

He smiled, "No, but you do and I'd like to take you out." I wasn't sure what to say. He seemed to since my discomfort. "We could just go as friends, no pressure."

"I don't know Edward." I didn't want him angry with me again when the others weren't here to calm him.

"How am I supposed to prove to you that I'm going to be a good boy and change my ways if you won't spend time with me?" his eyes seem desperate. "I promise you'll have a good time. And you said friends. Don't friends spend time together?"

I had told him we could be friends. "I'll have to check with Charlie."

He took it as a yes. "Even if he won't allow you to go on Monday I can't arrange for any other day he'll agree to." A wide grin broke over his face. "I'll let you get some sleep." He jumped up, kissed me on top of the head and flitted from the room.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked the empty room. My life in forks had not been at all what I'd thought it would be. I'd expected mind numbing boredom, and crippling misery. What I got was bizarre and strange. But at least it was never dull. I shut the light off and drifted back off to sleep.

Jasper's POV

Why am I stressing this much! I was in the kitchen getting things ready for my day with Bella. I just wanted to make sure she had a good time. I wanted to see her smile as much as possible tomorrow.

I was putting the food away into the refrigerator when Emmett and Rosalie came in. "What are you up to?" Rosalie smiled a wicked knowing smile at me.

"I'm just making somethin' for Bella." I hoped they would drop it.

Not likely though. Both of their curiosity perked up. "And what might that be?" Rosalie went for the refrigerator door.

"Nothing!" I flattened myself out against the door so she couldn't open it. "I just, um, nothing'." I hadn't bothered telling anyone else that I was taking Bella out. It wasn't like it was a date or anything I had just wanted to get out of the house and I enjoyed her company. Yeah that was it. You're such an idiot I thought to myself. I just didn't want to deal with the family drama that would inevitably ensue if they knew I was taking Bella out for the day, just the two of us.

"It seems like you're trying to hide something Jaz." Emmett came up on the other side of me. The two of them were smiling evilly at me. "What you got in the fridge Jas?"

Oh shit, they had me boxed in. Emmett slung one of his massive arms over my shoulder. Rosalie stepped in a little closer. "Look guys it's really nothin'. Why don't we just…ahh!" Emmett hauled me up off my flung me up over his shoulder while Rosalie quickly moved to the door. I couldn't believe I'd screamed. I felt like such a sis.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" she pulled the bouquet of flowers I had wrapped up in the back of the fridge. "Very pretty Jasper. But she'd probably prefer for you to pick her some yourself."

Emmett put me back down then flitted back over next to Rose. "And don't take this junk to you either." He pulled out the bag I'd packed her snacks into and rummaged through it. I hadn't been sure what she would want so I just put variety of chips, crackers, cookies, and some cans of soda in. "Alice put out all that junk food last night and I think the only thing I saw her eat was the pizza Esme made her and a couple of chips. I don't think she's into junk food."

"Well that's just great! I had to drive all the way to Seattle just to find those roses. And I stressed for an hour trying to figure out what food to pack for her. Wait what are you the two of you doing?" why the hell were they helping me. I had assumed they'd be angry with me. But all I was getting was understanding and love.

"Don't ask stupid questions." Rose said, and put the flowers in a vase. "We'll put these out for Esme, she'll love them. And if you're nice to me I'll let you pick a bouquet from my garden." I perked up then. Rose never let anyone take flowers form the garden. She had a small green house where she grew all kinds of exotic breeds. Whenever we would move to a new place she would make us break the green house down and take it with us, as well as make us get a moving truck with a heater in it for "her babies" as she called them.

"I'll give ya foot rubs for a week if ya let me have some of your flowers!" I jumped at the chance. Rose was right Bella would like a homemade bouquet more than the roses.

"Deal!" she smiled. "I would have settled for a hug though. Now you and Emmett work on this sorry excuse for a picnic and I'll go get you something special." She flitted away.

"Really man what's the deal? Why are ya guys helpin me?" I asked Emmett as he pulled fresh fruit and vegetables out of the crisper.

"Why wouldn't we?" I wasn't sure if he really understood the situation.

"I don't really know I guess I just thought you'd be mad at me or somethin'"

He looked at me like I was stupid. "Look man, you're my brother and I love you. I want you to be happy. Alice kicked your ass to the curb. You don't owe any one any explanations. I do think it's a little odd that you're moving on and you're over Alice so quick with how long you've been together. But I'm not you. I don't know what you're going through and I'm not stupid enough to think you're going to tell me either. So I'll be there for you were I can. Bella's a cool girl, we all love her. Just don't hurt her. and don't lead her on if you and Alice are planning to work this shit out or I'll break your legs off and not give them back for a month." I had no idea my big little brother could be that deep.

"I'm not over her man. I'm just not gonna wallow in grief. She threw me away and won't even tell me why. I've spent too many years lettin that little women control almost every aspect of my life. So I've decided to do what makes me happy." He shook his head at me in understanding as we sliced the food up. "Right now spendin time with Bella is what makes me happy. I enjoy talking to her. We have things in common. I ain't gonna hurt her, and I don't plan on leadin her on either. We're just friends. She ain't into me like that." My voice had a sad edge to it at the end. Emmett just smirked and kept slicing.

I felt the jack ass long before we saw him. He was radiating anger, hate, and sorrow. He came into the door way and just looked at us. His face was blank, but I could feel him. "What are you doing Jasper?" his voice was even and monotone.

"What the hell does it look like I'm doin?" I concentrated on what I was doing. I didn't want to fight him in Esme's kitchen.

"May I speak with you alone?" I had no idea why he was trying so hard to control his voice. He knew I could feel exactly how he felt. I wondered what had got his panties in a twist this time.

"I'm a little busy." I was putting the food we'd cut up into containers.

"Very well then." He walked off without a fight. I was shocked.

"Dude's getting to be really weird." Emmett said as he helped me clean up.

"You ain't wrong man." I stacked the containers in in the refrigerator and then started obsessing over what to wear while Emmett sat at my desk snickering at me. "Come on man help out here. I haven't been out with a girl who wasn't a member of this family since before I met Alice!"

"I don't know man, it would help if you would tell me where you were taking her." I want falling for that. I knew the minute I let it slip that he and Rose would just happen to be passing by to see how it was going. I just shook my head no at him. "Fine, indoor or outdoor?"

"Outdoor." I had planned on taking her into Port Angeles or Seattle for dinner and a movie or something. But I didn't want to do the same things every guy did on a first date. Not a date! Just friends! I had to keep reminding myself.

"Then just do some jeans and a tee shirt. She's not complicated Jaz. She's not going to care what you wear. Besides she'll probably be dressed the same way. You don't want to make her feel over or underdressed. "I wondered when he and I had traded places and he became the insightful one.

"Jasper would you please come in here." Carlisle called from his study.

I tossed the shirt I'd been hold at Emmett and hurried to the next room. I sighed as I entered and Edward was standing there. "Yes sir?" I said trying my best to ignore the little shit standing off to the side. His anger was gone, replaced by smugness.

"Edward tells me you're taking Isabella out tomorrow." He was cautious and worried.

"Yes sir." I wasn't going to offer any more information than I had to in front of the smug little fucker. I began singing in my head like Alice did to hide what I didn't want him to know. I started with some old drinkin songs I use to sing with my buddy's back when I was still human, and then moved to nursery rhymes, then bad country songs.

He growled at my thoughts. Carlisle looked at him sharply. He stopped.

"Edward wanted me to speak with you. He feels that the girl may be his mate. And he'd like for you to take a step back so that he might have a chance to bond with her." The little piss ant would try anything to keep control over her. He hadn't been able to do it on his own so he'd run to daddy.

"No sir." I kept my voice calm. I knew Edward was hoping I'd fly off the handle and he'd get another chance at me.

"No you won't allow your brother to bond with his mate?" Carlisle sounded disappointed me.

"No they are not mates." I was almost positive that they were not mates.

"How do you know this?" Carlisle sounded a little more interested now. His curiosity was peaked.

"He doesn't!" Edward snarled.

"Son please." Edward backed down. "Jasper?"

"She's not drawn to him. She doesn't feel that kind of love for him. They strongest emotion I've felt from her for him was lust and even that was not strong. If they were mates she'd feel the pull, and since they've met she's done nothing but try and push him away. "I kept my voice even and stood with my hands clasped behind my back to keep from ripping Edwards's throat out.

"That doesn't mean anything Jasper. It could just be because she's still human. Perhaps she has to be immortal before she would feel the pull." Carlisle reasoned.

"If ya don't believe me, then ask Alice if she sees them together." I bit out.

"You know she can't see Bella clearly!" Edward snapped again. I looked at him then, with a hard glare. He was lying. He didn't believe that any more than I did. He knew Alice was hiding things, and so did I. He flinched.

"Peter and Charlotte will be here in a month for Bella's birthday, we can find out then." Peter had text me earlier in the day with their travel plans. He wanted to surprise her.

"Why! Because you say Peter is never wrong and we're just supposed to believe that?" Edward was almost yelling now.

"No because Charlotte has the ability to since mates." He wanted to call me a liar again I could see it in his eyes. But I thought about Charlotte and the hand full of times I'd seen her use her gift. He knew I was telling the truth.

"Fascinating. You know Aro has a member of his guard Chelsea, can do the same thing. But she can use her gift to manipulate the bonds and break them or form them where ever Aro needs them. And Marcus can identify relationships between individual, and how strong the bonds are. " I shivered just a little thinking of the head of the Volturi clan Aro, and Marcus. They also had a brother named Caius who ruled with them. They were the self-appointed royal family of the vampire race. They were by far the biggest clan with 15 coven members and 17 various guards. They ruled with an iron fist and were quick to judge and punish. We were the next biggest coven, followed by our cousins the Denali coven which had 5 members. "Can Charlotte do anything like that?"

"No sir. She just has to be in the room with the two of them and she'll be able to since it. She can only tell us yes or no." he started to say something else but I cut him off. "I will not step aside and let him move in to control her every move. If Bella decides she'd like to see him I won't stand in the way. But until Charlotte gets her I'll stand with Bella to make sure no one takes advantage of her. "

Carlisle understood just fine what I meant, but he was in denial. Edward had been the first of the family that Carlisle had turned. He'd been his first companion. He looked at him as true son, not adopted like the rest of us. But he knew that I was right. Edward would step in control every aspect of Bella's life that he could. It was odd that I'd never noticed that he and Alice were so much alike until now. They both used their gifts to control.

"Edward, this is fair." Edward started to argue but Carlisle put a hand up to stop him. "If Bella wishes to spend time with you she will. But you will not force her otherwise. And if she chooses to spend her time with Jasper, or down at the Indian reservation then you have no say so. When Charlotte comes we will put this matter to rest and ask Bella what she wishes to do." I knew he was talking about her joining our coven. Edwards's eyes widened at the suggestion. "You may go boys."

I just shook my head as we both left the study. Even if he thought she was really his mate he was going to fight her change. He was pathetic. He growled at me again. "Get over it!" once we were out of the office I shoved him up against the wall. "Next time ya want to buck up to me, don't hide behind your daddy ya little pud! Or are ya to afraid I'll wipe the floor with your ass again?"

"Jasper! Edward!" Carlisle snapped at us from inside the office. "I let him go as Rosalie came walking up to me. I smiled at her. She was holding a huge bouquet of Blue, and purple orchids, with just a few white roses mixed in. she'd tied them together with a navy blue ribbon. Bella would love them.

She smiled back at me ignoring Edward completely. "Those are perfect Rose." I took them from her.

"I know." She gave me a hug. "Don't forget you owe me a foot rub tonight, well if you aren't too busy that is. "She winked at me. I knew she was just trying to get a rise out of Edward. He growled and stormed off.

"Thanks Rose." I took the flowers and put them into the fridge so they wouldn't wilt until I could give them to her. I still had a few hours before I could go see her. I went back to the library to continue obsessing over my clothes. I just wanted everything to be nice for her today. I wanted her to be able to relax without Edward causing a scene. Hell to be hones t I would be happy doing whatever she wanted to do as long as I could just sit with her while she did it.

Ok guys here's chapter 13

I know I said lots more Jasper, and there was going to be more but this chapter sort of got away from me and started running long. So Jasper and Bella's time together will be on the next chapter.

Also lot of big things are going to start happening very quickly.

Just remember I do have a plan and it's all going somewhere fantastic. And it will be worth the ride.

Please enjoy and feel free to comment and review.


	14. Chapter 14

I own nothing, it's all in funzies.

And today is lots of funzies

Chapter 14

Bella's POV

"Uh!" I hated my closet. It was mocking me this morning. I had nothing decent to wear. I was quickly regretting turning Alice down for a shopping trip. At least then I could have had something new to wear.

No! You stop that! That line of thinking would inevitably lead me back to thinking about if I was betraying my new friend by spending the day with her estranged husband. It's best to just to concentrate on what's right in front of me today, like the fact that I have nothing to wear.

I looked at the clock. It was only seven. I'd been up for over an hour now and still wasn't ready. I hadn't been able to settle back into sleep comfortably after Edward had left. Every noise I heard in the house or outside my window made me think he was crawling back in my window. So finally I just got up and showered. I wondered if I could find a vampire proof window latch somewhere.

_Tap, tap, tap_. I turned toward said window to see Rosalie tapping on it with her fingertips. I sighed. Well at least she was polite enough to knock before she just barged in. I waved her in.

"Hi." she slipped in and made sure to close the window behind her. "What ya doin?" she was chipper today.

I huffed. "Trying to find something to wear today. Hey why didn't you use the front door? It is day you know."

"I wasn't sure if you'd discussed being acquainted with us to your father yet." She was smiling way too big and her hands were hidden behind her back. She had something sneaky up her sleeve I was just sure of it. "So, you're going out with Jasper today?"

"Um, yeah. Why?" I hadn't been sure he was going to tell the others. I got an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. What if she was here to tell me I shouldn't spend time with Jasper?

"Here!" She thrust an arm full of material at me.

"What's this?" I started to untangle it.

"I thought you might like this. Alice left yesterday after you went to the reservation and she started filling your closet. I liberated these for you." she moved to sit in my rocking chair.

I looked back to my closet confused. "No not this closet," she motioned to the tiny area, noticing my confusion. "You're closet back at our house. She does it to all of us. She spent the whole day shopping for you."

"I wasn't aware I had a closet at your house." I was laying the clothes out on the bed now to get a better look at them.

"Esme decided that the spare bedroom you stayed in is now your bedroom." She said it sort of offhand as she scanned my room. She looked so out of place in my room, in her black leggings and red cashmere sweater dress. Which was a hovel compared to their place. "This is nice. I like this. Its cozy and I love those lanterns." I was shocked. Rose seemed more like the type who wouldn't be comfortable unless it was the Hilton.

I didn't really understand Rose. She'd hated me so much when we met. I thought her playing the games with us was more for Emmett than me. And the slumber party for Alice. I assumed she was being polite to me for the others. But here she was bringing me clothes, and telling me she liked my room.

"Rose," I wasn't sure how to ask without sounding rude.

"Yes?" her attention was on me again.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I guess straight forward was the best way to go.

"What do you mean?"

"Well the day we met you looked like you wanted to snap my neck, and the day before yesterday you wouldn't even ride in the car with your family because I was there. Now you're bringing me presents, I don't understand."

She seemed to be pondering how to answer. "I care for my family deeply. Their safety is everything to me. So, when I found out you knew, I freaked a little. And yes I thought about catching you alone several times and just taking care of the issue." My blood ran a little cold. She was still smiling pleasantly and discussing her initial urge to kill me like we were talking about the weather. "But, I saw what you did to the others. Alice hasn't really been herself for a while, depressed and moody. She wouldn't talk to anyone about it. When she saw you in the parking lot some of the old her seeped out. And even though she's still being weird and doing things like tossing Jasper out, she's happier and more herself when you're with us. Emmett wasn't exactly depressed, but there has been something missing from him, and until you came along I didn't understand what it was. He's been lonely."

"But, I thought that the two of you were…" I let it trail off, "I mean I thought I heard you…."

"Oh yeah that's what you heard all right." She smiled wickedly at me. "I've got him covered in that department honey. It's just the others don't see Emmett for what he really is. Jasper loves him, they ruff house and spend time together, and he looks at Esme and Carlisle like parents, and most people don't really hang out with their parents. Alice and Edward just see him as a big overgrown kid. But he's more than that. He's much more intelligent that he shows them, and he's caring, and funny, he seems to find joy in everything he does. He's the most human of all of us. He needs friends." She a little sad for just a moment, "Having you I think makes him feel a little more connected with that part of him that's still so very human. I think that's why he plays that dumb game with that little wolf to. But they let him come around so little that it doesn't help much. Emmett loves you, and you make him happy. So as long as he's happy I'm happy." She winked at me. "And Esme and Carlisle have just been stressed over all their children's problems. Now that you've mended some of them they are so happy and grateful to you. They will love you like their own if you let them."

I hadn't missed that she didn't mention if I'd affected Jasper. "What about Jasper." I looked at the floor as I asked, I felt insecure for some reason.

She got up and tipped my chin up making me look at her. "Don't ever do that. You keep your head up. You never let anyone make you feel like you're any less that what you are. And what you are Bella are nothing short of amazing in our eyes." I had to smile. Rosalie thought I was amazing. Why again? "And as for Jasper, well he doesn't really know any of us noticed because he was so focused on trying to help Alice. He tried everything to make her happy. He settled down into depression about a year and a half ago when there seemed to be nothing he could do and that's where he's been ever since. It was like he'd lost his reason to go on. He only surfaces when Alice throws him a little attention. When you showed up they were just settling into another bad patch again." while she talked she walked over to my dresser and picked up my tiny makeup bag. I didn't have much makeup just a little powder, a small quad collection of brown and bronze eye shadow, some lip gloss, eyeliner, and mascara.

She made me sit down on the bed and began working on me, I didn't bother arguing. It wasn't like I was going to do a good job applying it anyway. "I've been so angry at Alice for it. I was so worried about him. I didn't think he could survive much longer going in and out of these depressed states. But it's like you've given him not just a reason to not sink into that state again, but you've brought him to life altogether. I've never seen him smile so much. Hell we've heard him laugh so few times in all the time he's been with us period that when you make him laugh it's nothing short of a miracle." She stepped back to admire her job on my makeup "he's better with you. He's happier. Even if I didn't have like a hundred other reasons, I would love you just for the way you've helped my big brother. For all these wonderful things you've done for my family, no matter how long they might last I love you, and I'm glad you're with our family. Plus you stood up to me which really took guts." She laughed.

"Thank you Rose." My voice came out in a whisper. I was so touched by her words. And ecstatic about the affect she thought I had on Jasper. It was all hard for me to believe though. I didn't think I could possibly have that much influence on one person's life much less six vampires. Wait no, there were seven of them. "Hey, what about Edward?"

She laughed. "Yeah you definitely affect him. You've driven that idiot coo coo for coco puffs. And you kick his ass, which he desperately needs."

I laughed to. I debated for a second and then told her. "Did he happen to tell you guys he came to my room last night?" I didn't want to start trouble but I didn't want to keep waking up with emotionally unstable vampires in my room either.

"No why what did he want."

"He woke me up. He was sitting him my chair. He was being weird. He asked me some one was giving me that he wasn't but he didn't tell me who he was talking about. He looked really upset, then it was like he flipped a switch and he got kind of pushy about me going out to dinner with him tomorrow night. I finally agreed and he took off."

"Make up a reason why you can't go." She told me. "I want to find out what he's up to before you take off alone with him. And the next time he's here text one of us. I don't know what he's up to but I walked up on him and Jasper arguing. I don't know what it was about though. "She was quiet for a moment, staring out the window. "Okay get dress, Jasper will be here in about thirty minutes. "She opened the window, "Have fun today. And don't do anything I wouldn't do." With that she was gone.

I wondered what there was that she wouldn't do, or that she hadn't at least tried in the last ninety seven years. From the noises I'd heard the other day she and Emmett were pretty kinky sounding.

I turned back to the clothes on the bed and really got a look at them now. She'd brought me a pair of jeans that were faded, and had several rips on the legs. The tops were a tank top that was somewhere between a grey and cream color, with a strip of lace down the center, and a thin cream color tunic top that was split down the front just low enough see some of the lace down the front of the tank top, it was long enough to hit me mid thy, and was split up both sides all the way to my way up to my waist.

I looked in the mirror on the inside of my closet door. Rosalie had done a nice job on my makeup with my limited collection. The jeans were snug but comfortable, and I loved the top. I was sad that I'd probably have to cover it with my jacket. I dug though the bottom of my closet and came up with my brown plaid chucks. They weren't perfect for the outfit, but they did make it mine.

I checked the clock, he would be here soon. I was getting nervous. I rushed down stairs and made me a bowl of cereal. "Hey kid, why are you so dolled up?" Charlie came in. He was dressed for another day of fishing.

"I'm going out with a friend today." I was shoveling my food down as fast as I could.

Charlie looked at me again, really taking in my whole outfit. "You got a date?"

I chuckled. "No dad we're just friends."

"Well who is this friend then?" he sat down at the kitchen table waiting for me to answer.

"Jasper Hale." His reaction now was just as bad as it had been when I told him I'd been hanging out with the Cullens after school. "Dad pick your chin up off the floor before you trip over it." I rinsed my bowl out.

"Which one is he?" he was thinking to hard trying to place the name with one of the stunning faces of the Cullen/Hale family.

"He's the blonde one." The gorgeous one, probably best not to tell him that.

"Does Jake know you're going out with guy?" and it was starting. I knew he and Billy would have Jacob and I on the way to the alter when we made up.

"Why would he need to know, Jake and I are just friends, and I already told you Jasper's just a friend to." I looked at him with sharp eyes, making sure he knew I was not going to tolerate him dictating my personal life.

"Awful gussied up for a friend." He grumbled. I could see now Charlie was going to be difficult when it came to guys in my life. It was a new experience for me, having a parent who actually acted like a parent. I hoped he wouldn't make it too much of an annoying habit.

"Are you going fishing today?" I wanted to get him off the subject and rush him out before Jasper got here.

"Yup, where are you two going?" he wasn't going to let it go.

"He didn't say. He just asked if I wanted to hang out." Please oh please let him drop it and leave before Jasper got here!

I must have done something bad in a previous life. The doorbell rang. I tried to get here before Charlie, but he'd jumped up and practically ran to the door.

I bit my lip to try and keep from smiling when Charlie opened the door. And then I groaned internally. Jasper was standing there with a huge bouquet of blue, green, and purple orchid, and a few white roses scattered through it. They were beautiful, I loved them. But I hated that Charlie saw them.

"Not a date huh?" he said under his breath. Jasper looked at me confused. I just shook my head at him. I'd explain later. "Hi I'm Charlie, Bella's father." He put his hand out.

"Jasper Hale sir. It's nice to meet you." he reached out and shook Charlie's hand, if my father noticed how cold Jasper's hand was he didn't say so. I also noticed that his southern twang was almost completely gone when he spoke to my father.

The three of us stood in the door way awkwardly. "Um, these are for you Bella." He thrust the flowers at me.

"Thanks Jaz," I waited for Charlie to go away but he just kept standing there. I huffed. "Come on in I'll put these in a vase and we can go." He stepped in and Charlie closed the door. Jasper followed me to the kitchen, and Charlie followed him.

I rummaged around the cabinets as quickly as I could, desperately looking for anything to put the flowers in. "So Jasper, where are you taking Bella today?" No, no, no! Don't talk to each other! I finally came out of a cabinet with a vase.

"We were going to go to a movie with my brother and sister." that cheeky Rosalie, she hadn't even hinted that she'd be with us today. I was a little disappointed that we wouldn't be alone but I'd still enjoy myself.

"Oh, well that sounds fun." He was probably just relieved that I wasn't going to be alone with a boy. "Okay, well you two have a good time. Jasper it was nice meeting you, I'm late for a date with a fishing pole." Jasper chuckled at Charlie. "Bells, don't forget you have school tomorrow, don't be out late." He gave me a peck on the cheek and was gone.

My whole body relaxed as soon as my father was gone. I suspected Jasper was helping me out with the relaxation. I didn't mind. "Thanks Jasper."

"No problem darlin', ya seemed like ya needed some help relaxin'." The twang was back.

"Why does your accent change like that?" I asked as I put the flowers into the vase and filled it with water.

"Daddy's don't like it when their babies date cowboys. We're trouble makers don't ya know that." He winked at me. Date! He said date!

"So this is a date aye?" I worked hard to control my excitement. I knew he'd feel it. I smiled at him playfully to try and hide it.

"Um, well I hadn't meant it to be. But I guess that was a Freudian slip. It don't have to be if ya don't want it to be." we stood just smiling at each other for a moment.

"These are beautiful," I had to break the silence.

"I'm glad ya like em', I stole em' from Rose." I wasn't really paying attention to his words. I was paying attention to the rest of him, and remembering my dream. His blonde hair hung loose in well tamed waves around his face He was wearing a plain white tee shirt under a brown leather jacket, jeans, and a pair of brown leather lace up boots. It wasn't a button up top that I could pop the buttons off of, but maybe I could just rip it in half. I blushed in shock at myself. I wasn't normally like this.

He cleared his throat and looked away from me. Oh god! He could feel my lust! Why did I keep doing this, it was so embarrassing. "Maybe we should get goin'."

Yes! Once we were with Emmett and Rosalie it would be easier to control this. "Yeah, we shouldn't keep Rose and Emmett waiting." I walked out to the entry way closet and got my Jacket.

"We aren't meetin' them." He said coming up behind me and helping me with my jacket.

Jasper's POV

As we stood in her small kitchen staring at each other, I just knew this little human would be the death of me. The desire rolling off her was so strong that my body tried to react on its own. I'd started to take a step towards her. But I caught myself in time. What was I doing? What was I going to do when I got to her? That was a stupid question. I knew exactly what I would have done.

I would have thrown her down on the kitchen table, shred those clothes, and…. No! I shut off that train of thought. I cleared my throat, turned to study anything in the room but her, and shifted trying to hide exactly how happy I'd been with that train of thought.

"Maybe we should get goin'." Yeah that was a great idea. It would be easier when we weren't in such a small space together. I'd felt desire from humans before, I could handle this. It was just their natural reaction to our appearance. Sure Bella's was a little more pronounced than most, but I was sure they were just the normal. I could handle this.

"Yeah, we shouldn't keep Rose and Emmett waiting." She was trying to shut down her desire and failing miserably. I could still feel it.

"We aren't meetin' them." I said as I followed her to the entry way where she retrieved her coat from a closet, and I helped her on with it.

She turned to me. She was radiating worry, surprise, shame, and a little fear. "We're going out with Edward and Alice?"

"No," I chuckled at her response. There was no way I was going to be going anywhere with Edward any time soon. I was keeping my feelers out for his emotional signature just in case he tried to follow us. If he did I might snap him in half. And I would be way too uncomfortable to spend time with Alice and Bella at the same time right now. " I just told your daddy that. He was worried over ya bein' alone with me today. I hope you ain't mad that I fibbed."

Relief flooded though her. "No that's fine. I thought he would be gone by the time you got here. I wasn't even going to tell him I was going out with you today. I don't like to lie to him so I'm glad it was you and not me." I was a little hurt when she said she wasn't going to tell her father she was with me today. It made me feel like she was ashamed of me. I knew she was probably just didn't want to have to explain to her father that she'd be out with a boy.

She had notice my reaction, "It's just that I didn't want to have to explain the whole thing to Charlie, and I was worried that if something went wrong that it would get your family in trouble"

"What do ya mean if somethin' went wrong." I was pretty sure I knew what her something was but I just wanted to make sure.

"Well if one of you were to lose control or if…"

"You're trying to take precautions for if one of us drains ya we won't get into trouble?" I cut her off, I was pretty sure she must be a little crazy. "If ya were afraid one of us would hurt ya, why wouldn't ya just stay away from us?"

She seemed confused by my question. "I don't think any of you would hurt me. But you never know what might happen. And it may not be you guys either. Other vampires could come passing through and I could get hurt. I could trip and fall off of a cliff or, choke on a piece of food. Let's face it I'm danger bound no matter what I do. I'm not going to let that keep me from being with your family. I love being around all of you. In any event I want to make sure my father doesn't jump to the wrong conclusion and blame your family." she was by far the most loving and selfless creature I'd ever met. She cared about us so much that she wanted to protect us even if we were the ones who'd hurt her.

I reached up and ran my hand across her cheek. "Did I tell ya how wonderful ya look today?" Happiness radiated out of every inch of her at my words.

"Thank you. Rosalie brought this to me this morning, and she did my makeup to." She blushed. My sneaky little sister was so wonderful.

"Let's go." I said when I realized that we were just standing there staring at each other again

She locked the door and we were on our way. "You have a nice car." She said once she was buckled in. I had driven Carlisle's black BMW.

"This is Carlisle's car. I didn't think your daddy would be too pleased if I picked ya up in one of my cars." My cars tended to give off a bad boy image.

"Cars, Like as in plural? And what's wrong with them, why would he care what car you drove?" she was amused.

"I drive muscle cars." She looked at me like I was speaking Dutch or something. "They're high performance cars, they have a lot of horse power, and ya know a lot of muscle behind em. They're fast. I have a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda, a 1968 Dodge Charger, a 1966 Shelby Cobra, and a 1969 ZL1 Camaro. And you have no idea what I'm talking about do ya darlin'." I got a little overly excited when I talked about my cars.

"Nope not a clue, but I like listening to you talk about them." she smiled widely. "Take me to see them. Or will we be late for the movie?" well hot damn, a girl who wanted to hang out with my cars. I might just be in heaven.

"I wasn't really takin' ya to a movie. That was just for your daddy to. It made him more comfortable to think we were goin' to a public place." I was taking her somewhere special today. I went over everything in my head again trying to make sure I had everything we would need. "We can go by the house if you want and switch vehicles if ya want, I'd prefer my own car any way." She was excited now. She was practically bouncing in her seat.

Once we were to the house I pulled around to the side and hitting the button to open the doors. Our garage was huge to say the least. A portion of it was actually covered and underground. We each had our own sections. Carlisle and Esme's car were in one section. They each had a simple black BMW. Neither of them was into fast rides like the rest of us.

Rosalie had a red BMW M3 convertible, and Emmett had a Jeep Wrangler that he'd put a lift kit on and a pair of giant tires. Alice's tiny canary yellow Porsche 911 Turbo had moved from beside my cars to Edward's section. He had two Volvo C30's one in silver and one in a darker slate color. The man was boring all the way down.

Then there was my section. The biggest section, I didn't need much in the way of material possessions to be happy, just my books and my cars. I kept them all covered for protection.

I listened to the house as we got out, Alice was moving around in her room. Edward was wearing a path in the carpet as he paced back and forth across his room. Bitch boy better stay right where he is to. He'd tried one more time to get Carlisle to intervene and keep me from taking Bella out today, he was still such a spoiled brat for as old as he was. Carlisle very firmly told him to drop it and also told him he would not tolerate Edward following behind us to interfere on his own. I was glad our father was beginning to see what is favorite son was really like. I was pretty sure Carlisle agreed with me that Bella and Edward were not mates, but he wouldn't say either way until after Charlotte's visit.

"Which one ya want to take darlin'?" I pulled the covers off. Her eyes got big and she stared at my collection in awe. . The Charger was a solid glossy black, the Cobra was a dark teal color, the Barracuda a light sky blue, and the Camaro was a bright green.

"Am I allowed to touch them?" I laughed and shook my head yes. She walked around each one, running her hand over the glossy paint. "I can't decide. I kind of want to ride in all of them."

"Well how bout ya pick just one today, and I'll promise to take ya out again in each one some time." She was so cute.

She crossed one arm over her chest and brought her other hand up to her chin in an overly dramatic thinking posture. "This one!" she pointed to the light blue Barracuda, my favorite.

"Good choice." I said as I quickly began pulling things from Carlisle's trunk and putting them into mine. She continued studying my collection.

I heard Edward leave his bedroom and he was standing on the other side of the garage door now. I growled loudly. "What did I do?" Bella jerked her hand way from the car, thinking she'd hurt it.

I smiled at her, and coughed, "Nothin' darlin' I just had somethin' in my throat." I fake coughed again. I glanced at the door to make sure he wasn't coming out. He was still standing there but he was still and quiet.

"Hey what's that" I looked back to her and then followed her gaze, she was looking in the direction of the door, but I couldn't tell what she was looking at.

"What?" I asked.

"That right there." She walked across the garage, when she reached the door she took her fist and banged it hard against the door.

I smiled as I heard Edward skitter back away from the door. She'd scared him. The little minx had scared a vampire. I loved it. She opened the door, "Nobody likes an eavesdropper." She stuck her tongue out at him and closed the door. I couldn't hold back the laughter that bubbled up out of me.

I flitted to her and kissed her on the cheek. She flushed scarlet. I think red was my new favorite color. "You are by far my favorite person in the world right now. Let's go darlin'" Edward let out a loud growl though the door but went back to his room to pace.

"How did ya know he was there?" I asked when we were safely on our way.

She laughed, I loved the sound. "I saw you looking at the door after you growled. The only time I hear you or him growl is at each other. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on. And please how lame." She fake coughed, "there's something in my throat. I'm a horrible liar and I could have done better than that." we both laughed. The day hadn't even really begun yet and I was already enjoying myself.

"Where are we going?" she bounced in her seat. I just looked at her and smiled. I didn't want to ruin the surprise. "Fine," she pouted sticking her bottom lip out a little. Oh good got I wanted to kiss her. "Can I turn on the radio?" she pulled me away from the thought.

"Yeah sure." I clicked it on. "Put on whatever ya want darlin'." I kept it on an old station that played 60's and 70's music. I was surprised when she started singing along with the song, Tuesday's Gone. She had a nice voice. We rolled our windows down and found myself singing with her.

"I officially love this car." She said when the song was over.

"Well ya got ta love a girl who's into cars." She bit her bottom lip and smiled. She might have been the sexiest thing I had ever seen. I started to worry as we got further away from Forks that this might be a bad idea. I wasn't sure if she could feel it but I damn sure could. The sexual tension in t the car was almost suffocating. Then she smiled at me again, her big brown eyes sparkling, and I forgot what I was even worrying about.

We didn't talk any more after that. We just sang along to the radio. After a while we passed a sign for the Olympic National Park, "Your taking me to the national park?" she sounded only a little disappointed.

"Nope," I said and turned suddenly making her give a little squeal of surprise. It was a tiny hidden dirt road. I stopped after a few minutes. And got out to open the gate, and then locked it again once I pulled the car though.

"Where are we?" she asked looking a little worried.

"This is my place." I told her as I pulled the car up next to the small cabin.

She got out and I watched her carefully for her reaction. If she didn't like it here we'd leave and I'd find something else for us to do. She pointed to the cabin. "Can I go in?" I shook my head yes.

I grabbed the gas can from the side of the house and filled the generator, I'd come out this morning before she was probably awake and cleaned the place up, and left the gas can and a few other odds and ends we might need. I got the cooler out of the trunk and joined her. I was nervous. I hadn't been alone with any women like this in a very long time. And I had only ever been alone with someone in this house once a very long time ago, before my Bella had even been born. We liked Forks, we came back as often as was safe without someone noticing that we hadn't changed, or aged. And the cabin was my oasis.

Wow! Wait she's not your Bella! Well she was but she was all of our Bella. Yeah that's what I meant. You're such a fucking idiot. My phone vibrated. It was Peter.

_Peter: Stop stressing dumb ass it will be fine._

_Me: Where the hell are you? _

_Peter: I'm at the ranch, why?_

_Me: Do you know where I am?_

_Peter: Yeah I called the house and Big Papa said you took little bit out for some fun today. I figure that means you took her to the cabin._

_Me: How do you know I'm stressing?_

_Peter: Because I know you. Now stop it, everything will be fine._

_Me: I really hate you sometime you know it all bastard._

_Peter: No you don't. You love me._

_Me: And why do you think you know that?_

_Peter: Because I'm always right. Later Major have fun. _

I stuffed the phone back into my pocket feeling a little better about the situation. I walked in and flipped the light on as I entered. She was sitting on a couch in front of a dark fire place. She was oddly peaceful and calm. She wasn't uncomfortable at all. "How did you find this place? And I thought you lived with the others." she asked

"I do but sometimes all of their emotional baggage becomes over whelming so I come here for a day or two to unwind." I told her.

She thought over that for a minute while I put the cooler down on the kitchen counter. The cabin was pretty sparse. I had a couch, a coffee table, the kitchen had a small counter sink and a small old wood burning stove, the bedroom only had a bed, a nightstand and a few things in the closet. The bathroom had a toilet, sink and small shower. Home, sweet home.

"Would ya like for me to build ya a fire?" I asked. I didn't want her to get to cold.

"Yes please." She was still calm only a little anxiety. She was nervous about being here alone with me, maybe. I quickly went out for the wood and soon had her a roaring fire going. "So what are we going to do here today? Are we just watching the fire or did you have something in mind?"

Her anxiety level shot off the chart. I laughed at her. "Yes we're goin' to do somethin'. Here put this on." I tossed her the bundle of clothes.

"Excuse me?" she asked looking at them with critical eye. "Um, I think it's a bit nippy for sun bathing." She held up the bathing suit I'd tossed her along with a thick plush robe.

"Just trust me you'll enjoy this, I promise. It's the whole reason I bought this piece of land, and I want to share it with you." she sighed and got up to go to the bedroom. When she came back out she was wrapped in the robe and still wearing the brown sneakers.

"I'll just be one second and we can go." I told her as I flitted to the bedroom. It was more like a minute but I was as quick as I could be, changing out of my clothes and into a pair of black swim trunks. When I came back out she was huddled close to the fire. "Come on I'll carry ya it'll be faster." She was just staring at me. I was a little afraid something was wrong with her.

When I stepped closer to her I could feel her desire again, as well as her nervousness as she stared at my bare chest. Oh damn, she was biting her bottom lip again. I put my hand on her cheek again. "We can go home if ya want. I don't want ya ta be uncomfortable."

"No!" I smiled at her quick answer. "Come on show me this big surprise of yours." She put her arm up for me to pick her up. I scooped her up bridal style and ran to the very back of my property. She closed her eyes and held on tight. "Just don't drop me!"

"Ain't gunna dropping ya." I laughed at her as I came to a stop. I sat her down on a bolder next to the small lake. I jumped out all the way into the middle of the water, and then swam back over to where she sat. "Come on scaredy cat get in, the water is fine."

"Easy for you to say, you won't get frost bite." Her bottom lip was trembling a little from the cold weather.

"Just give me your hand." She was unsure, but she finally leaned down and held her hand out to me. I scooped up a hand full of watch and let it run over her hand.

"It's warm!" she smiled.

"There is an underground river that's connected to the Lake Crescent hot springs, it's always warm. Now get in ya big baby." I splashed her.

She squealed, but she stood up on the rock and dropped the robe. I almost swallowed my tongue. The suit she was wearing had been one of Alice's old ones from the one and only time she'd come here with me. It was a 50's style blue one piece with little pink flowers on it and frilly trim.

She looked down at me with her hair blowing around her. She looked like a pinup girl standing up on the bolder. She became nervous and insecure at my gawking. "What's wrong, do I have something on my face?" she started to reach back down for the robe.

"No!" she stood back up startled by my outburst. "You're fine, darlin', just jump in its deep enough." This had started out as a good idea. I really thought she'd enjoy it. She was from somewhere much warmer than Forks. I thought she might be missing getting to do things like swimming. Now I'd made it all uncomfortable for her. I had to get my damn hormones under control.

She took a deep breath and small running jump off of the bolder and splashed into the water. When she came up she was smiling again. "You were right, I love this!" she laughed, water dripping from her face. I had the strangest urge to lick it off. What the hell was happening to me?

She splashed me in the face pulling me out of my thoughts. "I'll get ya for that." I promised swimming towards her.

She squealed and tried to get away. I was much faster though. I grabbed ahold of her waist and tossed her up in the air. She splashed back down and came up sputtering. "No fair! You cheat!" she accused, splashing me in the face again.

"How did I cheat?" I already knew what she meant.

"You used vampire speed to catch me!" she laughed.

She was back to just being happy and having fun. No discomfort. "Okay I promise I won't cheat again." Then I went under and grabbed hold of her ankle pulling her under for as second. I came back up making sure she'd come back up to.

She jumped on me startling me. She was trying to shove me under the water, pushing down on my shoulders with all her weight. I laughed, she could push and pull on me all day and I wouldn't budge. But I'd promised not to cheat, so I let her push me under.

I stayed under looking up at her from under the water. I knew she couldn't see me in the murky water. She looked a little panicked after a minute. "Jasper!" she called to me the smile slipping from her face. "Jasper!" she called again. Her voice was muffled but I could hear it. She began swimming around in looking for me in the water. "Jasper!" her voice was becoming frantic and I could feel her fear.

I popped back up out of the water grabbing her around the waist. "You shit!" she slapped at me. "I thought you drowned!"

I kept a firm grasp on her. "I'm sorry darlin'. I didn't mean ta scare ya. I was just playin'." I realized the water on her face wasn't all from the lake she had tears running down her face. I pulled her towards me and she threw her arms around my neck barring her face in my neck. "Shh," I rubbed her back with one hand "I'm sorry Bella baby, I'm okay I didn't mean to scare ya."

"I feel stupid now." She mumbled against me, her mouth brushing against my skin. I trembled.

"Why," I moved my hand to stroke her hair, instead of her back.

"Because, vampires can't drown, but I just freaked when I couldn't find you." she pulled back and looked into my face. She was so beautiful, even when she cried.

My body reacted without my permission. I kissed her. I held her tightly to me, and cupped the back of her head. Her arms tightened around my neck trying to deepen the kiss. Oh god what was I doing? Oh yeah that's right I was doing what made me happy. This made me very happy.

The hand on the back of her head moved back down, running down her back, then lower over her bottom, and finally down to her leg. I gripped her thy and pulled it up so she would wrap her lets around my waist. She complied with no problem. Her mouth parted just as mine did and my tongue slipped between her lips. She tasted wonderful, a little sweet. I moved my hips against her, pressing my hard length against, she moaned.

She pulled back from me and I whimpered. "My mouth feels funny." Oh god what the hell had I done! My venom! My venom was in her mouth!

I lurched from the water with her in my arms running for the cabin as fast as I could. "Jasper what the hell are you doing?" She was shocked and a little afraid.

I put her on the bed wrapping her in blankets as I grabbed my phone off the night stand where I'd left it when I had changed. She just stared at me, in confusion.

"Hello." Carlisle calm voice came on the line.

"Carlisle," how was I supposed to ask this? "Bella says her mouth feels weird." I had no idea how to handle this. Would he be angry at me for my carelessness? Should I be worried about that when I could have hurt Bella? What if I'd started the change in her?

"What do you mean weird, weird how?" his voice was still calm.

"Weird how Bella?" I asked her franticly.

"It's tingling like I ate a piece of hot cinnamon candy." She said and began moving her mouth like she was trying to work the feeling out of it.

I knew Carlisle had heard so I didn't repeat. "Has she eaten anything, or been hit in the mouth." Always the physician.

"I kissed her!" I blurted out and closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose.

Carlisle's reaction was nothing like I expected. He chuckled. "She's fine Jasper."

"Are ya sure? Wont my venom hurt her or start the change?" My guilt eased a bit, but I needed him to be certain

He chuckled again. "No Jasper. Kissing her won't put enough venom in to her system to cause the change or hurt her. Tanya and her sisters keep human lovers, remember. They are always alright after. A little sore but other than that they are fine." Our Denali cousins were infamous for taking humans to bed. "She might feel a little odd and maybe a little light headed for a little while but the symptoms will pass. Give her something to rinse her mouth out with." I could practically feel his amusement though the phone. "I understand she'd unusually clumsy on a normal basis. You may want to have her take it easy for the rest of the day in case the light headedness affects her balance" Probably a good idea. She could trip over air on a good day, being light headed she would probably crack her head open. "And Jasper,"

"Yes sir."

"You make sure you are careful with her." And he hung up. I think I just got sexual advice from my father. Or maybe my mind was in the gutter. But we had been discussing the Denali sister's sexual preferences.

I ran to the cooler and got Bella some water. "Swish this around in your mouth and spit it out." I commanded. She started to get up. "Where are ya going?" I sat down on the bed in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Well I'm not going to spit it in the floor." I got up and was back with a bowl before she had a chance to argue any further. "That's gross I'm not going to spit in a bowl. I can just go to the kitchen." I stopped her again. "Look if you're that worried about it just freaking carry me!" she snapped, so I did, with her grumbling the entire time. "At least sit me down to do this." She said when I didn't put her down.

"I'm so sorry Bella." I said reacting to her anger. I could feel it hitting me like tiny fire flames. I'd been so careless, I'd lost control and I could have really hurt her. I put her down, but stayed close enough to steady her.

She rinsed her mouth out. "It's fine Jasper. I just don't like being made to feel weakling, like I can't take care of myself." Wait, what? She was mad because I was trying to take care of her. Not because I'd endangered her.

"You're not mad about the venom?" I asked confused.

"No, I assume Carlisle said I'd be fine or you'd be freaking out even worse." She said turning to me. Her arms slid around my waist. Her desire flooded though me so suddenly that I almost took her down right there in the floor. I swallowed hard as she hugged me laying her cheek against my chest. "What did he say?" she asked.

"Um, that kissing wouldn't hurt ya, but the venom will probably make ya feel lightheaded. And ya know about the tingly mouth of course." I said wrapping my arms around her. She was shivering. The cabin was cold even with the fire, she was wearing a damp bathing suit, and I had left the thick fluffy robe down by the lake. "Why don't ya get dressed and we can either hang out here for a bit, or we can head back to the house if ya want to." I kissed her on top of the head. I was enjoying this new confidence she had to touch me now.

"Let's hang out here." She said.

"Okay ya change and I'll go get your robe, then I'll feed ya." She went to the bedroom and I went for the lake. As I went I began to worry. When we got back what the others would say. What would Edward do? What would Alice do?

I was pretty sure Rose and Emmett would be fine with the whole thing, whatever the whole thing was. I wasn't even sure what the hell we were doing. Carlisle seemed to be perfectly fine with what was happening. I knew Esme would be happy as long as Bella and I were happy, but unhappy about Edward and Alice's reactions to all of this. Edward would no doubt be furious. The question was what would he try and do about it.

Then there was Alice. She'd thrown me out. She didn't want me anymore. I knew that. But the guilt was still there. I was still married. She'd pushed me away many times, but this was the first time she'd ever thrown me completely out of our shared space. I scoffed at that thought. We hadn't shared the space ever. She'd just allowed me to have a few things in her room, and gave me a small space in the closet. Looking back on it, it was like she was trying to keep it so it would be easier to move me out when the time came.

Charlotte and Peter had never liked Alice. Charlotte had told me repeatedly that Alice wasn't my mate. But Alice had insisted that I had to come with her to the Cullens. And I'd fallen in love with her so quickly. I'd walked into a diner on one of my sabbaticals away from Char and Pete, and she'd just been sitting there staring at me. Her happiness and joy when she'd seen me were so foreign for me. I'd never had any one be that happy to see me. Sure Pete Char cared for me but the little pixie was different. I had always just assumed Charlotte had made a mistake. I guess I should have listened.

I was also worried about ruining her relationship with Bella. What if she was angry with her? What if she got jealous and decided she wanted to try and work things out with me. That would destroy all three of us. The thoughts kept cycling through my head as I grabbed the robe and headed back to the cabin. I'd have to discuss this with Bella. There was no getting around it. How had I fucked everything up so quickly? I had just wanted to spend time with Bella and get to know her.

When I came back into the cabin I no longer cared what the consequences would be. She was dressed in the tight jeans and tank top bent over the cooler. I could see the skin on her lower back as the tank top slipped up just a bit. Her round bottom looked good in the tight material.

I walked up behind her, putting my hands on her hips I bent over her and kissed the back of her neck. As she stood I slid my hand around her waist. She laid her hand on top of mine. We just stood there like that for a few minutes. I loved the feel of her in my arms. She fit so perfectly, she was just tall enough that I could rest my head on the top of hers without having to bend over to far.

I pulled away from her and made her a plate of the fruits and veggies. "Thank god it's not another burger or pizza." She laughed taking the plate and sitting down cross-legged on the couch. "I like junk food on occasion but not as much as I've had to eat lately. I'm going to end up getting really fat here." I worried for a minute that she might have an eating disorder like so many other girls her age. She was a slender girl. But when she shoveling in the food I made her I didn't give it another thought. She was just conscious of the types of foods she ate. Emmett had been right. She wasn't into junk food.

I stoked the fire and added wood so it would get warmer in the house. I also started a second fire in the stove. I changed and sat on the couch with her. When she was done eating she slid over and cuddled into my side.

She asked em about the Denali sisters. I told her that we affectionately call them succubi, since they preferred to lure unsuspecting humans into their beds. We talked about my cars, and about how I'd come to be with the Cullens. That subject reminded me of what I needed to talk to her about. But I was enjoying my time with her so much I was reluctant to sully it with a talk that might start an argument. So we talked about the family.

I told her how I loved Rose and Emmett. How much fun it was to wrestle with Emmett, and how I had to let him win most of the time so he didn't pout like a baby. We talked about her mother. It was clear she loved her mother very much, but she'd been the care giver in that situation more than her mother had. We talked about the few friends she had back in Phoenix. She hadn't been close to any of them. We talked about her father. She loved him just as much as her mother, he was a more stable parental figure but she still felt that he needed to be cared for.

She was so caring and considerate of everyone else. I ran my fingers through her hair as we talked, occasionally kissing her on the top of her head. She laced our fingers together, and every so often she would run her fingers lightly up my forearm. I stiffened when she traced her fingers over one of the scars. I'd completely forgotten about them while I was with her. I would normally never have gone into the water with her without having a shirt. I was so insecure about them.

She looked down at the raised skin under her finger. She ran her finger over it again. "What is that? I can feel it but I don't see it."

That took me by surprise. I'd never had a human ever ask me about my scars. I wasn't really around humans without being in long sleeved shirt, so I'd never really thought about it. I knew that the other vampires could see them. Alice had been put off by them when we were intimate, so I had taken to keeping a shirt on. And Edward on more than one occasion had thrown them in my face. Emmett thought they were cool. Rosalie didn't care about them either way. I was just Jasper to her. They were just a part of who I was. Neither Carlisle nor Esme seemed to notice them but other than when I'd first joined the family and they'd asked about them. After that they had never brought them up again.

And I could see them now as I looked down at my arms. "They are scares from my time with Maria. Ya really can't see them?" she shook her head. I'd have to ask Carlisle about that.

"You have more?" she asked looking up at me with worry.

"I have lots more." She was sad and worried. "Don't worry darlin' they don't hurt any more. I'm just a little insecure about them. I don't like people to see them. I'd forgotten all about them today with ya though."

"Why?" she asked in small voice.

I ran my fingers across her cheek. "Because when I'm with you I can't think of anything but how happy ya make me." I bent down and kissed her lips. I was careful to keep it a soft chaste kiss. "It's getting dark out, we should probably head back." I said reluctantly. I rested my forehead against hers. I didn't want to bring it up. I wanted to just stay here with her and forget the rest of the world.

"Jasper." I opened my eyes and pulled back to look at her. "What happens when we get back?" Well hell she did it for me.

I had no idea how to answer her. I had no idea what would happen. "What do ya want to happen?" I would take her cue on this. I would let her decide what she wanted to do, and then I'd deal with the fallout. I wouldn't let her get hurt. I'd do what it took to make her happy.

She thought about it for a minute, and then pulled away from me and stood pacing in front of the dying fire. "Okay, don't get mad at me." uh oh. I just gave her a nod. "I have enjoyed this day so much. I don't want it to end. And I care for you very much. But I don't want to hurt anyone. And I don't want to cause problems with your family. I don't want to give you up, but if we had to be just friends for the sake of your family I think I could do that. I mean I'd have do just deal with it either way. And I mean you're still married to Alice, so what happens if she decides she wants to work it out? I wouldn't want to stand in the way of that, and I sort of feel like a hussy for making out with a married man. And I mean I'm not stupid I know a few kisses and a fun day together don't mean we're together but…" I had to get up and stop her. She was talking so fast, and her emotions were all over the place. She was sad, happy, nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time. I was surprised she didn't burst.

I kissed her again. "Baby, it's okay. Everything will be okay. I'm not gonna to go back to Alice. I can't be with someone who won't fully be with me. She pushes me away at every turn. And you're not a rebound. So don't feel like today was nothing to me. I'm going to file for divorce tomorrow morning." She opened her mouth to argue, but I cut her off again already knowing what she would say. "And no it's not because of you. I should have done it a long time ago. But if it will make ya feel better we can keep us from everyone until after its final. And who the hell uses the word hussy anymore?" I laughed at her.

"I think I heard it on a movie somewhere." She laughed to. "I don't want to lose Alice as a friend." She said more seriously. "Let's wait to tell the others until after everything is final, if that's what you really want to do. Please don't do it unless you really want to. I don't want regrets later."

"I could never regret you." I kissed her again. I could feel the love coming from her so strongly. It was so much more than what Alice had ever felt for me. It was the strongest thing I'd ever felt in my entire life. "I love you Bella."

I had taken a huge leap telling her that. We'd only known each other for four days. I wasn't a complete moron though. I finally understood what was going on between us. Why I was so drawn to her so quickly. Why consumed every thought I had. Why my whole life had been turned upside down by this little human. We were mates. I would be like Edward though. I would wait for Charlotte to confirm it before I told anyone. If she was immortal it would be easier to tell. The pull would be more pronounced, and her sent would be addictive for me. She already smelled wonderful. But once she was turned her sent would change to attract her mate.

"I love you to." She whispered and hugged me.

My heart swelled. My mate loved me. We rode home with the windows open again, singing along to Simple Man. We would wait to tell the others. Once my divorce was final and Charlotte confirmed what I already knew to be true, I would ask Bella to join our family.

Here you have chapter 14

It's a long one.

I'm sorry it took me so long to get it posted, but I was having trouble getting it just right, and I still don't think it's quite where I want it to be. But I'm satisfied with it.

I'm going to try and post more soon but I may not be able to get back to it until after Christmas. But I'll try hard I promise.

I hope you all enjoy.

Feel free to comment and review.

Happy Holidays everyone!


	15. Chapter 16

All funzies, no ownzies.

Chapter 15

Bella's POV

When we arrived back at the house, Rosalie and Emmett were sitting around in the living room; Emmett playing a game and Rose reading the paper. Inside I was scared to death that the others would find out about us. I was trying so hard to act natural.

"Hey guys, how was your day?" Rose smiled at us.

"It was wonderful." Jasper answered for us both. "We were just gonna change cars before I took her home. I don't think her daddy would approve of my ride."

"No doubt," Emmett chuckled.

"Hey, will you two ride with us and meet Charlie? He thinks we went to the movies with you guys. Also, I'd like for you all to stop using my window ledge as the new vampire dive. So you can meet him and use the front door whenever possible." I told them smiling.

Emmett quickly put his game away while I went to the kitchen to say hello to Esme. "Hello dear, how was your day out?" she smiled sweetly at me.

"It was very nice. I had a good time." She hugged me, asked me if I was hungry or thirsty, and if I wanted to stay the night. I politely told her that I was still full from lunch. Jasper had continued to hand me food the entire time we'd sat on the couch talking. I told her I couldn't stay tonight but I'd be back this weekend, if that was all right. It was. She genuinely loved having me there to take care of. I hugged her good bye and went back to the living room to find the others and see if they were ready to go.

"Carlisle wants to see you in his office." Rose told me. "Jasper's in there with him." I was a little scared; I hadn't even thought about the fact that Jasper had called Carlisle and told him we'd kissed. He must be mad.

I walked into the office where Jasper was standing in front of the desk and Carlisle was sitting behind it, looking over some paper work. "You wanted to see me Carlisle?" Jasper flitted to the door, closed it, and then wrapped an arm around my waist, leading me over to the desk.

"Yes dear," he smiled at me. "I would like permission to acquiring your medical records." He came around the desk and stood just in front of me.

"Okay, why would you need my medical records again?" I wasn't sure why he would need them.

"If you're going to be pursuing your relationship with Jasper, then I want to be prepared should I have to treat you for an injury, or other unforeseen event." Oh, well that made a little sense. I think.

"Why am I being injured?" I asked. "And what kind of unforeseen events are we talking about here?" I looked over at Jasper and he looked angry.

"Well, with Jasper being a vampire, and you being human, he's much stronger than you, Bella. All it would take is for him to hug you too tightly and we'd have to patch up a broken rib." Carlisle seemed to be getting uncomfortable as he spoke. "Or if you have a bad reaction to the venom when the two of you kiss, or if he became too vigorous with your love making, he could injure you severely." He didn't look at me through the last part. He reminded me of Charlie trying to help Renee give me "The Talk" after I'd had my first period. He'd made a special trip to Phoenix when my mother had insisted that he had to be a part of this important conversation.

"Wow, okay; first off, I want to thank you for announcing that we're together to everyone in the house— because we weren't waiting to do that when the timing was better or anything." I told him sarcastically. "And no, we are not having sex at the moment, but thank you for the concern. Any other concerns, Pop?" He raised his eyes brows at me. Jasper was trying not to burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry Bella, but this had to be addressed. As for everyone knowing that you two are a couple, Rosalie and Emmett already know. Rosalie came to me earlier and spoke to me about an issue with Edward and she informed me that she knew then. Seeing as she keeps no secrets from Emmett, you can bet he's already been well informed. And I am sorry, but Esme was with me when we got the call from Jasper earlier, so she already knows as well." He smiled at me and cocked one eyebrow at me, "Pop?"

"Yeah; because you're the oldest person I know and you made me mad— so, Pop." I blushed at my outburst at him. "I wanted to wait and tell Alice and Edward later on, though, Carlisle. I don't want to hurt Alice." I was looking down at the floor now. "And Edward wants there to be more with him and I than there is. I don't want to hurt him, but I don't want to date him either."

"Alice is out shopping, but you wouldn't be able to keep it from her anyway. Once the two of you decided to be together, she will have seen it. I don't know why she can't see all of your future clearly, but what she does see becomes clearer every time you make certain decisions. I'm sure this will have been one she saw once you made it." He put an arm around me sympathetically, "As for Edward, I think you should be aware that he believes you to be his mate." Jasper growled at Carlisle's words.

"What exactly does that mean?" I asked; Peter had talked about mates once, but he didn't go into detail and I hadn't really been listening. "I thought your mate was just who you were with, I'm not with Edward."

"No dear, you're not truly mates unless you feel the pull. Mates for us are eternal. We either have soul mates or we simply have companions," He seemed to be trying to figure out how to continue. "Finding your mate is a very rare thing. If your mate happened to be human, you are almost certain not to find them."

"Why?" I asked, fascinated with this topic. But I was also worried; if Jasper and Alice had only been companions, then the two of them splitting wasn't such a big deal. But if they were mates, then he and I wouldn't last.

"Well, when we're changed, everything in our bodies change. This includes our scent. We begin giving off a scent that will attract our mate; humans wouldn't be susceptible to the scent, their sense of smell is so much weaker than ours. Also, humans wouldn't give off the proper smell or pheromones, if you will. Also, there is the pull." I arched my eyebrows at him in a 'please continue' look. "Once we come into contact with our mate, we will feel an almost uncontrollable urge to be near them, to protect them, and to love them. Unfortunately, humans are also not as susceptible to the pull. So, unless you are lucky enough to stumble onto your mate by accident— the way Rose and I did with Emmett and Esme— or unless your mate was already immortal, you might never find them." How sad; I wondered if Jasper and I were mates, or if we were only to be companions until he found his true mate, or until I was changed and found mine.

That thought brought me such sadness and pain that it was almost crippling. Then I had another thought that brought on anger. Jasper looked at me with concerned, no doubt he'd felt what I was feeling. I was angry that Edward would, number one, think that I was his mate and not speak to me about it. Number two, because he thought that we were mates, he decided that gave him the right to control me and to coddle me.

"I'm not Edward's mate." I almost growled. There was no way I was meant to spend the rest of eternity with Edward Cullen; he was too controlling and selfish.

"I don't believe you are his mate, either. I think that he is fascinated with you and attracted to you, and he is misreading everything. And, as for him finding out about you and Jasper, he would eventually read it in someone's thoughts. We can only hide things from him for a short time." He was right. We were stupid to think that we would have been able to hide it from everyone. "However, I didn't think he would take the news of yours and Jasper's relationship well, so after I got the call from Jasper, I sent Edward on an errand to Denali. He will be gone for two days at the most, but we won't leave you alone to deal with him. I will intervene and mediate as much as I can. I know my son can be strong willed to say the least, and I don't expect him to just let this go."

I stepped closer to Jasper, wrapping an arm around his waist. There was no point in trying to hide it if everyone already knew. I wished that Edward would stay in Denali. "Thank you for being truthful with me about everything, we need to be getting back before Charlie gets worried. Was there anything else?"

"Yes, once your medical history comes in, I'm going to want to give you a physical just to make sure everything is up to date." I didn't mind.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure everything is fine; I'll just tell Charlie that I have to get a physical for gym. Just let me know when." With that, we said our goodbyes. "Bye Pop," I smiled at him, he smiled back.

"Bella, Alice is in your room. She wanted to see you before you left." Rose said, not even acknowledging that Jasper and I were walking with our arms around each other.

"I'll never get home at this rate!" I let go of Jasper and trudged into the room that was now designated as mine. "Alice?" I called to her quietly; I was scared of her reaction.

"In here, Bella." She was in the closet.

I walked into the closet and gasped; she'd filled almost half of it already. "Alice, what are you doing?"

"Putting your new things away," She said like it should have been obvious. "Oh good; that outfit looks wonderful on you!" she squealed, turning away from the racks of clothes and towards me.

"Alice, I don't need all these clothes; I mean, I appreciate what you're doing, but…"

"Oh pish posh, I enjoy doing this. I do it for the others, too. I just hope you like them." She said, going back to pulling things out of bags and hanging them up.

Looking at the clothes made me feel bad. This girl was my friend and I was doing something that would hurt her. "Alice," I started in a quiet voice.

"Mmhmm." She hummed, but persisted in hanging things.

"I did something today, and I need to talk to you about it." I really didn't want to do this. I didn't want to hurt her, but I didn't want to give Jasper up either. I was a bad person.

"No you don't." was all she said and just continued with her task.

"But Jasper and I…"

"Na!" she held a hand up to stop me from talking.

"But…"

"No! Uh-uh." She put her hand over my mouth. "I have no desire to know what happened today. I don't need to know." She pulled a shirt and pair of pants from the rack. "I think you should take these to wear for tomorrow. This style suits you quite well." It was a black top, like the one I had on, the tank top was grey with light pink lace, and the jeans were black skinny jeans. "You can wear the black bootlets you already have at your house, they will look wonderful." She was completely indifferent about what I wanted to tell her.

"Alice please, I just wanted to say I was sorry and…."

"Isabella Marie Swan, you stop that right now." She snapped at me. "You have done nothing wrong. Jasper and I are no longer together. What he does and does not do is his business. You're my friend, and I want you to be happy." She said in a kinder tone. "Now, take the outfit and scoot; Charlie will start calling if you aren't home soon." She kissed me on the cheek and ushered me out.

I stopped at the door. "Thank you, Alice."

The others were waiting outside next to the car. "You okay?" Jasper asked.

I walked up to him and kissed him.

"Thank god!" Emmett busted out, startling me. "I was wondering when the two of you would get your shit together and make this thing official!"

"We've only known each other for four days, Emmett. Did you want me to jump his bones on day one or something?" I chuckled at him.

"Oh, so there was bone jumping today?" I wished I'd used other words.

"Emmett!" I yelled in surprise. Rose smacked him in the back of the head for me. It sounded like she hit a rock against concrete. Jasper just chuckled.

"Let's go before Charlie releases the dogs on us." He put an arm around my waist and led me to the car.

Emmett drove with Rose in the passenger seat of Carlisle's car, holding hands, while Jasper and I sat in the back. I was snuggled in next to him with his arm around me. He kissed the top of my head and I turned my face up to him for a better kiss.

"Hold it right there!" Rose's hand was suddenly between our faces.

"What are you doing, Rose?" Jasper asked in an irritated voice.

"If you kiss her right now she'll go all light headed and dizzy; she might hurt herself or her father might think we took her out drinking or something. You can wait until she's safely in her room for the night." She had a good point, and I got excited that he'd be coming to my room tonight. I was reluctant to have our time together end.

We pulled up to the house and everyone got out to meet Charlie. I looked at my watch; it was almost ten. Charlie would just be wrapping up watching the news and heading to bed. "Dad," I called as we came in.

"Hey kiddo, did you have fun?" He had been walking in the direction of the entry way to greet me but stopped in his track when he saw my three companions. He'd seen them all before but probably not up close.

"Dad, these are my friends; Rosalie, Emmett, and you met Jasper earlier."

Rosalie stepped forward first— she was still wearing the tight sweater dress and tights from earlier, she put her hand out. "Hello, Mr. Swan, it's very nice to meet you."

Charlie put out his hand and shook hers, but he just stared at her open mouthed and gave a weak, "uh huh."

Emmett came forward, his massive frame taking up a lot of room in the small entry way. "Hey, how are ya doin'?" Emmett smiled brightly.

My father took his hand as well. "Um, good thanks. And you can call me Charlie." I couldn't help but smile at my father's reaction to being so close to the beautiful trio. He got himself together quickly though. "Did you kids have a good time?" Oh crap, we'd told him we were going to the movies; he's going to ask me questions about it.

Emmett chuckled, "It would have been better if Bella hadn't fallen asleep during the previews and snored through the whole thing." My dad chuckled, too.

"I do not snore!" I protested.

"Yes, you do." Everyone said in unison, and we all laughed.

"Ya also talk in your sleep." Jasper supplied, and I blushed. I couldn't remember what I'd dreamed during my night in the Cullen house but I had no doubt that they'd all heard it.

"So, are you guys hanging out for a little while?" Charlie asked.

"No, we just wanted to meet you. We're heading home before our Mom and Dad send out a search party." Rosalie lied smoothly. Well I suppose when you had decades to perfect it, it all became much easier.

"Alright, well it was nice meeting all of you. I'm glad Bella seems to have made some very nice friends so quickly. Bella, I'm off to bed; lock up when your friends leave." They all said good bye to him and he went up the stairs.

"Good night, Bella." Rose kissed me on the cheek and was back out at the car.

"Night, Jelly-Belly." Emmett hugged me.

"Jelly-Belly?" I asked, a little confused about his line of thinking.

"Yeah, you smell kind of like Jelly Beans to me." he sniffed me, "Mmm, yummy." He laughed and was gone to join Rose.

Jasper wrapped his arms around me, pulling me as close to him as he could get me without hurting me. "I'll be back in thirty minutes, baby, I promise. I just want to take them home and drop off the car." He whispered and bent down and kissed my neck. I got excited chills.

"Why can't you just meet me upstairs now and let them drive home?" I asked, securing my hands around his neck.

"Baby, Charlie needs to be asleep before I come back. He can't hear us now, but it's not for lack of trying. Why don't you go have a shower and relax, I'll be back soon." I wondered if Charlie had his ear to his door or something.

I pouted a little. "Okay, how about fifteen minutes?" he offered with a smile.

"Okay, but I get to drive one of your cars next time we go out if I have to wait any longer than that." I smiled at his reaction and heard Emmett laugh loudly from the car. They could hear us.

Jasper looked like he was struggling with the thought of me driving one of his babies. "Okay, I'll be back in fifteen minutes or less. And you can drive one of the cars when you learn how to take care of one of them." He kissed me again and was gone.

Hmm, I'd have to get some 'Mechanics for Dummies' books. I locked up the house as they drove away and grabbed an orange and a bottle of water from the kitchen. I was so happy that we didn't have to hide. 'Everyone had accepted us so easily,' I thought as I went up the stairs.

I knocked on my dad's door and let him know that my friends had gone and I'd locked up. I went into the bathroom before going to my room. I wanted to have my shower done before Jasper got back. I didn't want to waste any more time away from him than I had to. I sat my water and orange on the counter while I took the world's quickest shower. Less than ten minutes and I was wrapping a towel around me and heading to my room, orange and water in hand.

I walked into my room and flipped my light on. "Ahh!" I screamed and threw the orange at him. He caught it and smiled at me.

"Bells, are you okay?" Charlie came running out of his room in boxers and a tee shirt.

I stepped into the doorway, keeping him from coming in. "Yeah dad, I thought I saw a mouse but it was just my sock." One of my socks was tossed in my direction, landing beside the door to where Charlie couldn't see it. I bent down and picked it up, being careful to keep the towel securely around me. "See?"

Charlie rolled his eyes at me. "Good night, Bella." He groaned and went back to his room, closing the door.

I scurried into my own room, closing the door and staying as close to it as I could. "What the fuck are you doing in here?" I whisper snapped at Edward.

He made a disgruntled face. "Did you pick that sort of language up from him today?" Oh damn.

"I thought you were supposed to be in Denali!" I had to keep him off the topic of Jasper.

"I'm on my way there after I leave here. I just wanted to see how your day went." Bullshit; he wanted to pry. "Did you ask your father about tomorrow night? I mean, I could rush if he said yes." He was smiling now.

How was I supposed to handle this? My phone was in my pants pocket on the bathroom floor. Even if I had it he'd probably stop me from calling someone. "Look Edward, you're a nice guy, but I don't think it's such a good idea for us to go out to dinner." He looked upset. "I mean, not right now, anyway. I think I would be more comfortable if our time spent together was with the others." There, that sounded safe. No leading him on, I was being nice and making it clear that I didn't want to be alone with him. Sort of; I was so bad at this.

He thought about it for a minute. "Yes, of course. I shouldn't be here now." He seemed to be just realizing this. "We should be chaperoned." Wait a minute. What the hell?

I needed to nip this in the bud right now. "Edward, Carlisle told me that you think I'm your mate." He looked irritated at first, then happy.

"That's wonderful, now we don't have to dance around this. We can be together, and you can stop spending time with Jasper." He took several steps towards me. I flinched back into the corner next to my door. "Don't be afraid, love, I would never hurt you." But he stopped his advance on me.

I took a deep breath; I should wait for Jasper to get back. No! Then they'd fight. What if Charlie heard and came in? He would be hurt. I needed to take care of this myself. "He said you thoughtwe were mates, not that we were." I took a deep, steadying breath. He didn't look happy. "I don't believe we're mates, Edward. I think that you might like me a lot, or even care for me, and you're confused about the whole issue. I don't feel the same way for you, though. I want to be your friend, nothing more."

I was afraid he was going to hurt me with the rage that passed over his face, "I see," he said through clenched teeth. "Very well, as you wish." He was out the window, slamming it as he left.

I flung my door open and ran for the bathroom to get my phone. Charlie came out just in time to see me slip on the floor where my feet were still a little wet. I landed hard on my left side. "Bella, what the hell are you doing? And what was that sound?" He asked, helping me up.

"I was just going to get my phone." I groaned. "The sound was my window; I had it open for a minute."

"Well make sure it's closed! You'll catch pneumonia opening it with wet hair!" He said good night again and went back to his room. I retrieved my phone and went back in my room to call Jasper. I was afraid Edward would go after him.

Jasper's POV

I didn't want to leave her. I wanted to stay with her forever. But she was human; she had needs that I didn't. She needed some time to herself to take all of this in. I wanted her to think about everything, even if just for a short time to be sure this was what she really wanted. If she turned me away now it might kill me, but I would deal with it.

"What are you thinking about so hard, Big Bubba?" Emmett asked with a smile from the front seat. I couldn't keep the big goofy grin off my face. "Yeah, that's what I thought." He chuckled. "So what do you think; is she your mate or what?"

"Of course she is!" Rosalie answered.

"How would ya know?" I asked, surprised.

"Oh, I've known since forever." She teased me. She was extremely happy and a little smug.

"Since when?" There was no way she'd known; she was just being a smartass.

"Since I saw the two of you in the gym," Emmett and I both looked at her. "What? I went looking for you before Emmett did and I caught a glimpse of you holding her and talking to her before Emmett came along. I didn't want anyone to know what I'd seen so I high tailed it out of there."

"You sly little devil." Emmett chuckled and brought her hand up to kiss the back of it.

"That doesn't explain how ya knew before me." I didn't want her to avoid the answer.

"I'd never seen you look at Alice the way you looked at that girl. I've never seen you smile so much since she came around. I had forgotten what your laugh sounded like. There is no way she's not your mate, and even if she's not, she'll be a much better companion for you than Alice." She was so matter of fact about it.

"I don't want to be companions with her." Since I'd realized that had been all Alice and I ever really were, I couldn't do that to Bella. I couldn't just love her and leave her if my mate came along. I wouldn't be able to bare it if she did that to me. I needed her.

"She's your mate brother, have no worries." Emmett sounded sure. I smiled at him as we pulled up to the house.

Alice was on the front porch jumping around hysterically. I was pissed at her still, but something was really wrong. "Why aren't you answering your phones?" she demanded as we flitted up to her.

"Mine went dead earlier." Emmett had been playing games on his phone again.

"I think I left mine next to the bed." Rose told her.

I flitted to my car; mine had fallen between the seats. There were six missed calls from Alice. "What's wrong?" I asked, flitting back to them.

"Just get back to Bella's! Edward is there. I can't get a good fix on what's going on, his decisions keep shifting." Emmett and I took off running.

He better not hurt her! I'll kill him! I pushed myself as hard as I could go. Why hadn't I sensed him? Everyone had a unique emotional signature; he had to have stayed far enough away so I wouldn't notice him and then slipped in after we'd gone.

Her shade was closed. "Emmett, track him!" I commanded. I had to make sure she was okay and I didn't want him to get away if she wasn't. He gave me quick nod and veered off, tracking Edwards scent.

I tapped on her window; I didn't want to scare her by just busting in. I waited a few more seconds and then she raised the shade. I opened the window and slid in. She was wide eyed, wearing a towel with wet hair.

"Baby, what happened?" I whispered. I could still hear her daddy in his room. He wasn't asleep yet, but he was on his way. She started to cry. What the hell had he done to her!? She was afraid. It slithered across me like ice.

I sat her down on the bed and shut her light off; I didn't want Charlie coming in to check on her. She reached up and clicked on a string of lantern lights that gave off a faint glow. I went to her and scooped her up in my lap. I pulled her blanket around her, and let her cry. She would tell me what happened when she got it all out. I was afraid she was going to go into shock over whatever he'd done.

After a few more minutes the crying slowed and then she pulled it together. "Did he hurt ya?" I asked, afraid of the answer. She had been in a towel. He could have done many things to her. I would make him suffer if he had.

"No, I was just afraid that he'd gone after you. He just scared me." I sighed in relief and hugged her closer.

She winced and I released her. "I thought ya said he didn't hurt ya!" I pulled the blanket away from her. I hadn't squeezed her hard enough to hurt her. Without thinking I pulled the towel down away from her side; her pale, perfect skin had a huge dark bruise already. Had he done that, or had I done it earlier today in the water when I'd pulled her so tightly against me? No, I was sure I hadn't held her that tightly. "How did this happen?" I demanded.

"Holy shit, Bells! What happened? Did he do that to you?" Emmett came through the window just in time to see her injury. He was pissed.

She squirmed, trying to cover herself. I had pulled the towel off the front of her, but she was exposed all the way down her left side. I pulled the blanket back up around her again. "I ran to get the phone from the bathroom, but my feet were still slick so I fell." I knew she was telling the truth, and she was embarrassed, probably at having both of us see her almost naked.

"Did ya find him?" I asked, pulling Bella against me again and tucking her under my chin.

"He's headed toward Denali; he's a fast fucker." Emmett grumbled.

"Go back and let the others know she's okay; I'm gonna to stay with her until we know where that shit is."

He gave me another quick nod and then bent down and gave Bella a kiss on her cheek. "It'll be okay, Jelly Belly. We'll take care of this and make sure he gets his shit together or that he just stays away from you all in all."

"Thanks, Emmy-Pooh, but he just scared me a little. Really, I'm fine." She didn't want the family to fight over it. I could feel it coming off of her; she was filled with worry and guilt.

Emmett left and I became very aware that I was holding my naked mate wrapped only in a blanket. "Can ya move enough to get dressed, baby?" If she couldn't, I'd take her to Carlisle. She might have broken a rib.

She moved around experimentally. "It hurts to move my arm, and my side is hurting pretty bad. Can you help me?" She winced again as I placed her back on the bed and went to her dresser and her closet to get her clothes.

I got her panties, a pair of sweats, and a plain, white long sleeved tee shirt. "Here, baby." I pulled the blanket from around her and helped her stand. Think of anything else! She was hurt; I shouldn't be excited about this. We couldn't play right now, she was hurting too bad.

I tried closing my eyes as I kneeled in front of her with her tiny panties in my hands. Oh god, of all the ways I imagined having her naked with her panties in my hand, this was so not one of them. But, it still had the same effect on my body. She steadied herself on my shoulder with one hand and held on to the towel with the other.

Closing my eyes wasn't working; I just kept seeing all kinds of naughty things. Emmett and Rosalie, No! Thinking of them always leads to sex. It was their favorite past time. I held the material and she stepped into it. I slid it up her legs. I couldn't help but run my fingers over her soft skin as I did. I swallowed hard as her heart beat picked up and her breathing quickened just a little. Even through her pain, she was sending me waves of desire.

I made it all the way up, and I couldn't help myself. I leaned in and kissed the bare skin on her stomach where she'd let the towel slip apart just a little. "Jasper." she breathed, and ran the hand that had been on my shoulder through my hair.

"I'm sorry darlin', I shouldn't have done that." Hurt came out of her, stabbing me. "It's just that you're already hurt and I didn't mean ta tease ya."

"I'm fine— really, we can… Ow!" I had stood and she tried to lift her arm to pull me back down.

I chuckled. "Don't worry, baby, we've got plenty of time for all that." I was upset that she was hurt, but ecstatic that she still desired me even through the pain. I wanted to claim her so badly. But I had to wait. Not only for her to heal, but I couldn't claim her fully until she was turned; and that couldn't happen until we saw Charlotte. At the moment I was going over what Rosalie had said. Maybe I would still offer for her to join our family no matter what Charlotte said. I might never find my real mate if it wasn't Bella and the same went for her if she were turned. We could be happy together either way. I did love her, and she wasn't like Alice. She wouldn't hurt me that way. I needed to stop thinking about all of this.

I finished helping her with her sweats and then we had to maneuver her top on. She couldn't hold the towel on and get into the shirt without it hurting so she dropped the towel with no warning. I stammered for a moment, and then looked up at the ceiling. "You're a cruel woman." I told her as I helped her in to the shirt and tried to keeps my eyes averted.

She chuckled and then clutched her side hissing. "We need to get ya ta see Carlisle." I started to pick her up to run her there.

"No!" She put a hand up to stop me, "I'll be fine. I'll go see him in the morning; I don't want Charlie to come in and me not be here. And if I tell him I'm hurting he'll only want me to go to the emergency room. Just let me lay down and I'll see Carlisle in the morning, I promise." She pleaded with me.

"Okay, but if ya get any worse I'm takin' you no matter how much ya protest!" She smiled at me and crawled carefully into the bed. I crawled in on her left side, making sure to put my cold skin against her to keep any swelling down. "How did he scare ya, honey?"

"He was just standing in here when I got out of the shower, being a creeper." I growled, knowing he'd seen her in just the towel. "I told him I knew that he thought we were mates. He got really happy at first, completely misinterpreting what I was trying to tell him. When I clarified it he got really angry. I thought he was going to hurt me, but then he just left. He said it was fine and went." She took a shuddering breath. "I was so afraid he was going after you. I didn't want him to hurt you."

I kissed her temple. "He couldn't hurt me even on my worst day, honey."

We lay there in silence for a little while. Her breathing slowed and I knew she was drifting off. I shifted to pull the blanket more securely around her, "Please don't leave!" she grabbed for me and hissed in pain.

"I'm not going anywhere. Ever." I promised her, "Just go to sleep, I'll be here when you wake up. If Charlie comes in I'll duck into the closet." I was pretty sure I could manage getting in there before he heard or saw me.

She was worried again, and in pain. I began singing lowly to her; she relaxed and drifted back off. I would kill him if he ever made her hurt herself like this again.

Charlotte called Bella's phone and I answered it before it could wake her. I didn't go into all the details with her but I let her know the gist of what was going on. And I didn't ask her about Bella being my mate; I didn't want her to tell me it wasn't true. I knew she couldn't tell over the phone, but I still just didn't want to chance it. I was also afraid that if she found out we weren't mates, she'd push me away. I just wanted to be with her so badly. I would wait until her birthday; I wouldn't let it eat at me. We could just go on like this, loving each other.

I watched her sleep all through the night, singing to her and stroking her hair whenever she got restless. I loved her so much.

Edward's POV

This was absurd! My mate was denying me. I know I'd said if she didn't want me in that way, I'd settle for what I could get—but I hadn't really thought it would happen.

I'd been angry at Carlisle at first for telling her of my suspicions, but then I was elated. If she knew then she wouldn't fight me so much on everything. She would accept us and allow me to do what needed to be done in order to protect her.

But she'd denied me. This was his doing! He'd taken her away today just to turn her against me! I trudged on at a human-paced walk now that I'd lost Emmett. I wandered through the snow in the general direction of Denali. Maybe I could just get lost out here. Never go back.

No! I couldn't let him win! I wouldn't! I could fix this; I just had to be crafty enough. I would have to get in good with her again. I could turn her against him. I could do this. I had to have her.

I'd already lost my battle to keep her away from the wolves. My father had sided with that monster. He had forbid me to interfere with Bella going down to the reservation. He had never forbidden me to do anything. He'd been so angry with me; I wasn't sure what he'd have done if I had tried to stop her.

Then he'd sided with the monster over taking my mate away alone. There was no telling what he'd done with her! I could still smell him all over her, even after she'd showered. If he'd slept with her I would kill him. She was too good for him; just like Alice. He was a monster; he shouldn't be allowed to have a woman, at all. I'd seen the things he did with my poor sister in their heads. I had seen the things he'd imagined doing with other women. He was sick.

I toyed with the idea of just killing him as I walked. No; I would have to figure out a way to turn her against him. If I just killed him she'd hate me; they all would. He had them all fooled. But not me, I knew what he really was. I would find a way to destroy him.

Ladies and gentlemen chapter 15

I hope you enjoy.

After the next chapter things are going to start taking a little bit of a darker turn before they get any better. But bear with me, the ride will so be worth it. I hope.

Feel free to comment and review.

And thank you my lovely beta


	16. Chapter 17

I own nothing, all for funzies

Chapter 16

Bella's POV

I had nightmares. Every time I managed to fall all the way asleep, Edwards enraged face would be in my freaking face. I so wanted to just hit him with a crowbar. I wanted to slap myself. I couldn't believe I let him get to me this way. I'd taken him and Jasper trying to attack me better than this.

But, honestly, I hadn't been scared for myself. I was scared for Jasper. I was so afraid that Edward would go after him. He had to know the real reason I didn't want to continue a relationship with him was because I'd chosen Jasper. Delusional and slightly off kilter he might be, but stupid I didn't think he was.

I felt so weak and stupid letting Jasper baby me. But I'd just been so relieved to see him outside my window, unharmed. I caved and became that damn damsel in distress I'd told Edward I wasn't. Oh well, there was nothing I could do for it now but move on and make it clear that I didn't need to be coddled.

I stretched and sucked a pained breath in. It wasn't as bad as it'd been last night, but it still hurt like hell. I took a few deep breaths, I was pretty sure I hadn't cracked anything; I could breathe without pain.

"How bad does it hurt?" Jasper asked beside me. I'd almost forgotten he was there.

I ignored his question and smiled at him. "I wished I could wake up every morning like this." I ignored the pain in my left side and rolled over to wrap an arm around his neck.

He smiled back at me and gave me a quick kiss. "How bad, Bella?" Damn one track minded vampires. I wished I could get his brain on a naughtier track. I smiled again. Now that he was mine I could have all the naughty thoughts I could handle without feeling bad. "Darlin'!"

"Uh!" I grumbled. "I feel like I've been rolling in cotton balls!" I told him sarcastically. He looked at me sternly and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I want ya ta let Carlisle check ya out, please. And don't look at me like that; he got your records faxed over about an hour ago and he wanted ta get your physical out of the way, too. We could just kill two birds with one stone." I didn't want to give in. "Plus he can write ya a note for school and we could spend the rest of the day together." I was sold. He knew he'd won by the shift in my emotions. He kissed me quick and flitted away.

Charlie opened my door, "Get moving Bella. You're going to be late."

"I'm not going to school today, Dad." He looked at me with obvious disapproval.

"And why the hell not?" he didn't curse at me often. He must really be in a bad mood this morning.

"I made an appointment with Dr. Cullen for my physical and I wanted to have him look at my side. It really hurts." His eyes softened.

"You should have told me last night, Bells. I could have taken you into the emergency room." I knew that's what he'd say.

"I'm sure it's fine, I just want to make sure." I glanced at the closet to make sure Jasper was well hidden.

"Well do you want me to go with you?" He sounded like he had something else to do and I really didn't want my dad there, trying to hold my hand through it all. He wasn't great at that sort of thing.

"No, Dad, I can drive."

"Well, don't worry about dinner tonight. We've had some hikers go missing and I'm probably going to be late for the next few days until we find them." He said with a worried look on his face.

"Do you think they got lost or something?" I wasn't sure what would reason there were around a sleepy little town like Forks to cause hikers to go missing.

"No," he looked like he was debating whether or not to tell me the rest. "One of the deputies found their campsite this morning and it was torn up pretty bad. Most likely it was a mountain lion or a bear." That meant he would be out searching for dead bodies.

"I'm sorry, Dad." I didn't know what else to say.

He bent and kissed the top of my head. "Don't worry about it; you just stay clear of the woods until we figure out what happened and call me when you get done at the doctor's."

"Will do, Chief." I saluted him with a smile, and he left chuckling.

As soon as the front door closed Jasper was back by my side. "Can you handle getting dressed?"

I huffed, "Yes, but it might be a little more fun if you help."

He smiled but I knew when he got up and moved towards the door that he wasn't having any of it. "As fun as it might be, we have to hurry and get to the hospital."

"Why?"

"Alice texted; the clouds are going to clear this afternoon and we'll have to make ourselves scarce." Damn sparkles.

He left the room and I got dressed as quickly as I could without causing myself any more pain. My whole left side ached when I lifted my arm. I went with a loose-fitting, plain black sweater, a pair of jeans, and a pair of slip on vans with grey and black checkers.

When I was done Jasper scooped me up and flitted down to the truck with me. "I know how to walk." I said as he placed me in the driver's seat.

"I know," was all he said with a smile as he climbed into the passenger seat. Things were going to get real grumpy real quick if this was going to be the theme for the day.

Yup a grumpy day. When we got to the hospital Alice, Rosalie, and Emmett were already there, waiting with a wheel chair.

"I'm not getting in that!" I snapped at them.

"Hospital policy," Alice said sweetly.

"Fine!" I flopped into the chair. I regretted the move immediately. Pain shot up my side, but I stayed quiet as they wheeled me into Carlisle's office. He held a finger up to us as he read over some paper work on his desk.

"Why are you all here?" I looked up at them.

"Well, Carlisle said something about a scan; I thought he meant your head and I wanted to see what was really in there." Emmett said as he stared at my forehead.

I arched an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me, but what do you think is in there?"

"Well, I have this theory that a pair of elves moved in there and every time you get up to walk they start poking your brain and make you stumble over things that aren't really there." He was ridiculous.

"Well, I guess a couple of mischievous elves are better than a monkey playing the symbols." Rosalie burst out laughing at my assessment of Emmett's brain.

He pouted, "Too mean, Bella."

"You'll survive it." I told him with a smile. Being able to poke fun with Emmett made me feel better. "What about you two?" I asked Alice and Rose.

"I go where the monkey goes." Rose answered. "Plus, I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She answered a little more quietly. I couldn't help but smile; Rose was worried about me.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay, too." Alice said; sounding a little upset. "I hate this whole not being able to see you clearly."

"Sorry Alice, it's not like I'm hiding it from you on purpose." I snapped at her.

She looked at me and smiled. "You're brilliant!" She kissed my cheek and flitted out of the room.

"Okay, because that wasn't vague and weird." I said to the door.

"Don't sweat it Bella, she does that sort of thing to us all the time. She gets an idea or has an epiphany and just takes off." Rose told me.

Jasper came up next to me and I realized that he'd kept his distance while Alice had been with us. Maybe I'd been right the first time—they really were mates, and he and I wouldn't last. That thought just added to my whole crap fest of a day.

"Bella," he started to say something to me but Carlisle chose that moment to pop up out of his seat.

"Alright; are we ready?" He cut Jasper off without realizing it. He was way too cheerful and upbeat for poking and prodding around on me.

"Yeah, let's get this over with." Carlisle made a concerned face at my sour mood but I just waved him off.

He rolled me into an exam room and Jasper followed us. Emmett and Rose stayed in Carlisle's office so we wouldn't draw too much attention from the rest of the hospital staff with such a large group of us.

Carlisle did an x-ray of my side and mashed on the area a little. He gave me one of those awful paper night gowns then went through the motions of doing a full physical exam. Jasper stepped out for all the lady stuff—I couldn't help but laugh at his obvious discomfort with the whole thing.

When all was said and done, Carlisle gave me a clean bill of health and said that my ribs were just bruised, but he wanted me to take it easy for the rest of the day and possibly the next day as well if I was still hurting. Then he wrapped me in a thick padded ace bandage to cushion the area.

This was all so uncalled for. I'd hurt myself a hundred times worse than this many times. Carlisle stepped out of the exam room and I dressed and called Charlie.

"Hey Bells," he answered.

"Hey, Dad, I just finished my exam."

"Yeah I know," huh?

"And how do you know? Are you at the hospital or something?" Surely he wasn't out with the Cullen siblings waiting for me to come out. How the hell would I explain their presence to him?

"Oh, no; Mrs. Cullen called me." Why was Esme calling Charlie? And how had she known I was done with my exam? "She asked if you would like to stay with them during your recovery since I would be busy with work."

"How did she know you were busy with work?" Well that was a dumb question— Jasper had been in the closet this morning; he knew about Charlie's case at work.

"It's a small town, Bella, news travels real fast around here." Well that was probably true. "Anyway, the doctor called her and told her you'd be laid up for a day or two and I guess it's up to you if you want to go stay over there or not. I'd feel better if you did, I'm going to be wrapped up with this case and you're going to need help." What the hell had they told Charlie was wrong with me?

I didn't want to get into it with him right now. "Okay, Dad, I'll just stop by the house and grab a few things." I didn't want him to be worrying about me while he was at work.

"I'll call you later tonight to see how you're feeling. Do you still have the debit card I gave you so you can pay for your prescriptions?" What prescriptions?

"Yeah, Dad, love you."

"Love you too kid, be careful getting to the Cullen's." He said back to me.

"Will do," I told him and we hung up.

When I stepped out of the room Jasper was there to take me back to Carlisle's office. At least I didn't have to use the damn wheel chair.

"What did you tell Charlie was wrong with me?" I demanded as soon as we entered Carlisle's office.

"The same thing I told you," Carlisle said looking confused. "That you had some bruised ribs and needed to take it easy for a day or two. Why?"

"Because he said Esme called and I would need to stay with you guys through my recovery like I broke a bone or something." I grumbled at him unintentionally; I wasn't taking tall this extra care too well.

He smiled at me then. "She probably hammed it up just a little to get Charlie to agree to let you stay with us so she could look after you herself." Oh damn. I had the feeling she may want to wrap me in bubble wrap.

"So what's the verdict?" Emmett asked. "Are there elves in there, Carlisle?"

"Elves?" Carlisle had evidently been ignoring us talk while he was reading over his paper work earlier.

"Carlisle, can you take an x-ray of Emmett's head? I want to know if there is a monkey playing the symbols in there or if it's just a peanut." Carlisle laughed.

"I'm sorry dear, but x-rays don't work on us." he said, handing me a bottle of pills.

"Damn," I said, snapping my fingers at not being able to see the inside of Emmett's head. "What's this?" I took the pill bottle.

"It's for pain." I read the label, 'Hydrocodone'. There was no way I was taking this for the minimal amount of pain I was in.

"Carlisle, these will put me out and I'm not in enough pain for them. I can just use ibuprofen or something like that." I didn't like taking pain killers no matter how much pain I was in. They caused me to have horrible nightmares. I was having plenty all on my own, no help needed thank you very much.

"Well, take them with you just in case. I'm sure Esme already has the medicine cabinet in your bathroom fully stocked by now. You should be able to find whatever you might need." He gave me that stern fatherly face. He wasn't letting me leave without the pills. "Now you four get back to the house before it gets too sunny. I'll be right behind you in a few minutes."

Jasper and I rode in my truck and Emmett and Rosalie took her car. "Why are ya upset?" Jasper asked, looking at me like he was afraid I was going to break any moment.

I didn't want to snap at him. I didn't want to yell at him for being concerned for me. And I didn't want to seem like one of those crazy jealous girlfriends by demanding to know why he was keeping his distance from me when Alice was in the room. It had only been the one time so far, but I still couldn't shake off the feeling that he was struggling with his decision to be with me. "It's nothing."

He just continued to stare at me with concern. His worried mood was starting to leak out onto me and making me feel edgy. I was relieved when we pulled back up at my house. I forced a happier mood while I packed and asked him to put the box of stuffed animals in the back of my truck for Emmett. Maybe if I could make him believe I was fine he'd stop spewing his own emotions all over me.

Think happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts, make Peter Pan fly. I laughed at myself. I didn't even know what I was concerned about. He was obviously still worried about me. And of course he would be uncomfortable being affectionate in the same room as his estranged wife. I felt a little better as I gave myself the pep talk. The worry was still there but it was dissipating. I shouldn't freak until he gives me a real reason to freak.

"Are you ready baby?" he asked, coming up behind me, sliding his arms around my waist, and burying his face in my hair. 'See? Stupid,' I scolded myself.

"Yeah, what are we going to do today?" I asked as we locked up the house and he slung my bag into the bed of the truck with Emmett's box.

"Well, don't shoot me, but I think ya got ta let Esme pamper you just a little." My irritation was easing back up. "And if you're a good girl, tomorrow we'll take the extra day off of school for your "Recovery" and I'll take ya back up to the cabin." I think I could manage not screaming at everyone to leave me alone and let them pamper me if it meant I could have the day alone with my blonde cowboy tomorrow.

"I'll try my best to be a good girl." I mock pouted at him.

He chuckled at me and slid over on the bench seat of my truck and took my hand and laid a kiss on the back of it. "Well I guess that's all I can ask. You know she don't mean no harm or to imply that you can't take care of yourself. She just really enjoys takin' care of all of us, and you bein' human, she gets more chances to do that with ya." I knew he was right. She was so motherly. "But I do want ya ta pull over right here, right now." He said when we turned onto their long drive. It was almost completely hidden by all the foliage.

I did what he said a little worried that something was wrong. "Put on the brake." I did what he said again.

"What's wrong?" I started to look around outside the truck, maybe Edward was somewhere outside, or it could be the wild animal that had gotten away with the hikers.

"Nothing at all," His voice was low and he had an evil glint in his eyes. He scooped me up and had me sitting in his lap, facing him with one knee on each side of him.

"What are you doing?" The question came out breathy. He wrapped his arms around me and leaned forward laying his cold lips on my neck, trailing kisses from just below my ear all the way down to my collar bone. My brain went to mush and I forgot what I'd even been asking him.

I moaned and slid my hands up his arms, around his neck, and then fisted them in his hair. Why had I ever worried that he hadn't wanted me? A growl escaped his throat and he slid a hand under my shirt; cupping my breast and messaging lightly. Any other time I'd have scolded him for growling. But when it vibrated on my skin as he kissed me, it was sexy as hell.

There was a loud honk from behind the truck making me jump. "Damn it!" Jasper grumbled and sat me down in the passenger seat, sliding behind the wheel. "I was afraid when we got to the house I wouldn't get another chance to do that once Esme got her claws into ya." he laughed, "I didn't mean to tease ya again darlin', I thought Carlisle would take a little more time."

Oh god, it had been Carlisle who caught us! I felt my face flood with heat. "It's okay," I told him in a mortified voice. "I just don't want to have to get used to it."

He flitted out of the truck and opened my door for me. I ignored the irritation that tried to well up at him thinking that I couldn't open my own door. "No worries baby, we'll have plenty of time to ourselves soon enough." He promised and then kissed me. Just a quick brush of lips, and I whimpered just a little at the loss.

Carlisle cleared his throat at us. "We should probably get you a drink of water to take care of that cough, Pop." I told him without looking at him.

He and Jasper both chuckled. "I believe doctor's orders were to take it easy. Groping each other in a truck at the end of the drive does not qualify."

Emmett's booming laughter came from inside. Damn, he would torture me over this. "So bone jumping and groping like teenagers." He laughed when we came in. "You two should really read some of these books that me and Rose got. They have so many more fun things to do than just necking." Esme popped him in the back of the head as she entered the room.

"You know, Emmett, if you were human I'm pretty sure you'd be brain dead by now as much as you get popped in the back of the head." I laughed at him as Esme lead me over to the couch where she already had pillows and blankets ready for me.

She pulled a big ottoman away from one of the chairs so I could face the TV and still prop my feet up. "Esme you don't have to do all of this." I tried to tell her but she just kept up the constant string of pampering and sat me a drink on the side table, and brought me some ibuprofen.

Jasper brought the box and my bag in from the truck bringing my spirits up just a little. "Where do you want the box, honey?"

"Right here!" I pointed to the floor next to the ottoman. "Emmett!" I said, almost in a squeal. I was way too excited to be trying to embarrass my new brother.

"Yeah?" he asked, flopping down beside me.

"I got you something." I smiled at him sweetly. Rose came in with a curious expression.

Jasper slid onto the couch next to me and slid an arm across the back of the couch behind me. I pointed to the box and Emmett tore into it excitedly. The look of confusion that came over his face was so worth it. He dipped his hand into the box and came out with a tiny pink teddy bear. Rosalie and Jasper cracked up laughing. Esme and Carlisle chuckled quietly.

"A little birdy told me you liked bears and these guys need a good home." I told him when he looked at me still confused.

"I like my bears much bigger and much grumpier." He grumbled.

"Keep digging then." He dumped the box and picked up the bear I'd been talking about. My grumpy bear care bear. I laughed at him again.

"Well, they are kind of cute." He said, picking through them. Ten minutes later he had them all sat up around him explaining to them how to play his new racing game.

"You really need more friends, Emmett." I laughed at him.

"Shh, we're busy." He told me.

As if on cue the doorbell rang and Esme escorted Jacob, Quil, Embry, and Seth into the living room.

"Hey Jake, what are you guys doing here?" I asked, happy to see them.

Jacob looked a little annoyed to see Jasper sitting so close to me. "Yeah," he said as he flopped down on the couch on the other side of me. "Your dad talked to my dad today and said you were here. He said you hurt yourself again." He said the last with a big smile. Jacob got endless pleasure out of my mishaps.

"Why is the big one playing with dolls?" Quil asked, staring at Emmett in confusion.

"They're my only friends," Emmett said in a sad little voice that had me and Jasper laughing again. "And they prefer the term Fuzzy Americans." Jasper and I were almost laughing hysterically now.

"What are you playing today, Emmett?" Seth asks; ignoring Emmett's stupidity and his pack members confused looks.

"OH! Come on boys; grab a controller I got a new racing game!" He pulled his game box out and they began digging in. "Rose babe! Can you put my little stuffed friends in our room for me, please?"

"Do I look like your maid?" The pack members seemed to have just noticed Rose. Quil and Jacob were practically drooling. Seth of course had seen her before if he'd been coming to play with Emmett now and then; he continued to rummage through the box looking for good controllers

"I-I could help you if you want." Embry offered staring at Rose in awe. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Please Rose? I'll make it up to you I promise." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down at her. Oh god, I was going to have to listen to them going at it again.

"Fine; come on little man give me a hand." She and Embry began gathering Emmett's fuzzy little friends. I was sure he'd probably just toss them later.

I slapped Jake in the back of the head, "Eyes off of other men's wives!"

"Ow Bells! You're one to talk!" He shot back at me rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't figure you for the kind of girl that's into married men. I thought you were dating the other one, the cocky one who doesn't like us." Jasper growled at Jake. Jacob just rolled his eyes.

"Not that it's any of your business boy, but I filed for divorce." When the hell had he had a chance to do that?

"When?" I asked; surprised he'd be talking about this in front of everyone. But, Esme was flitting around offering the guys drinks and snacks like nothing was going on. Emmett was digging through the box with Seth and talking about Emmett's plans to hit the game store sometime this week. Carlisle was off somewhere in the house and I had no idea where Alice was.

"I called Jenks today while you were in with Carlisle, darlin'." My heart swelled, and I felt a little guilty. I'd been so suspicious of him earlier, and he'd been taking steps to ensure that we could be together without his marriage hanging over us. I wondered if Alice knew. Maybe that's why she wasn't here with us.

"Hey, so does that mean the little dark haired one's available?" Quil asked, flopping down on the floor with Emmett and Seth.

"Yup," Was all Jasper said smiling at me, I smiled back happily.

"Who's Jenks?" I asked

"He's the lawyer to the monsters." Jacob said, picking up a controller and joining the others in the game.

"How do you know?" I couldn't even begin to speculate over where Jacob had met a lawyer who catered to the monster world.

"When Sam died, the tribal council gave me his number and told me I needed to get acquainted with him. If we continue shifting for more than ten years we'll all have to have new papers and id's made up."

"Huh?" I was so beyond confused.

"We don't age any more, Bella, remember?" Jacob looked at me like I was missing the big picture. "If we don't stop shifting in ten years and start aging again, we'll have to change identities so the government doesn't catch on that there is a reservation full of werewolves that aren't aging." Well that made sense and I remembered him telling me that he didn't age any more after he started shifting. It just never occurred to me that it would cause a problem. Their world was so natural for me that I didn't really think about other people not being clued in.

"There is no way these cars could go this fast for real." Quil said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Sure they can, you just have to know how to sup them up right." Jasper told him.

He and Jake slid into a car and driver conversation that I had no idea how to follow. That reminded me. "Hey Rose?" I said when she came back in from her last trip with the Fuzzy Americans.

"Yes Bella?" She leaned over the back of the couch.

I leaned up to whisper in her ear. "Could you download me a Mechanics for Dummies book please?"

She smiled. "I can do you one better." She came around scooping me up and flitting up the stairs with me.

"You know if you guys keep doing that I'm going to lose all my muscle mass in my legs." I told her as she sat me on hers and Emmett's bed.

Their room was a little gothic looking; nothing like Alice's. The walls and carpet were black. The bed was rod iron with small iron roses across the headboard, and all of her bedding was black and red. All of her other furniture in the room was black with red trimmings. Emmett's new friends were stacked up in a neat little pile on a bench seat in front of one of the huge windows.

"What happened there?" I asked, seeing a couple of the roses on the head board had been crushed. Rose just smiled at me wickedly. "Never mind," I chuckled. I really didn't want to know the specifics of their personal activities.

"Here you go." She pulled a couple of books off a black shelf next to her closet. I looked down at Mechanics for Dummies. "Emmett doesn't know the first thing about working on an engine. He kept griping about the way I did things when I would give him a tune so I bought him these. He didn't gripe any more after that." She laughed.

"You know about cars?" I was excited. I hoped I could get her to teach me.

"Yeah, why?" It was just so not something I would have thought Rosalie would be into.

"Can you teach me to take care of Jasper's cars? He won't let me drive one until I can learn to take care of one." Please, please, please.

"Are you serious? He's going to let you drive one of his cars?" she seemed utterly shocked. I just shook my head at her. "He has never let anyone drive them. And yes I'll teach you. If you're feeling up to it I have to change Emmett's spark plugs and change his oil. You can help me."

"Yes!" I squealed.

I went to my room and put on an old black tank top I'd brought to sleep in, I just stayed in the same jeans. I pulled my hair back in a messy pony tail and met Rose in the garage. She was dressed in a pair of tight jeans that were already covered in grease and oil stains, a black low cut tank top, and a blue mechanic's shirt that she left unbuttoned and tied the ends together at her waist. It had a little name tag that said Rose, and the back of it said Emmett's Lil Mechanic in big white letters. She was utterly cute and sexy all at the same time.

Thirty minutes later we were covered in grease and oil and leaning over Emmett's engine perched on an adjustable bench seat that we had raised all the way up since Emmett's Jeep was so high off the ground. She explained what each part was and what it did for the car and I'd only managed to hurt my side a couple of times when I'd raised my arm too high. Rose was good at keeping me from banging into things.

She was right in the middle of explaining the oil filter to me when we heard them. I'm sure Rose had heard them much sooner than me, but she'd kept right on teaching me.

"Oh my fucking god, that is the sexiest fucking thing I've ever seen." Jacob declared.

I looked over my shoulder to see Jasper, Emmett, Jacob, and the three pack members he'd brought with him. Jasper was grinning at me with a wicked glint in his eyes. Emmett had the same look on his face for Rose. The pack was just standing there slack jawed.

"I know, man, and they're ours." Emmett leaned toward Jacob and nudged him.

"I think that's enough for today." Rose said, lowering our seat.

I hopped up and thumped Jacob on the nose and hugged Jasper around the waist. "What's up?"

"We got to go." Jacob said, "Time for a shift change." Which meant he and the three wolves would probably be going out vampire hunting. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I mean, I knew that the vampires they killed fed from humans, but so did Peter and Charlotte. I didn't think they were bad vampires, though. Best not to dwell on it.

I let go of Jasper and gave each of the wolves a hug goodbye. Jacob kissed the top of my head, earning him a growl from Jasper that we both ignored. "I think we'll be back tomorrow to play with Emmett again." Jacob laughed.

"I knew you'd love him when you got to know him. Does this mean Seth gets to hang out more, too?" Jacob acted like he was going to say no and I tickled him.

"Okay, yeah." He laughed.

They left and we went into the house. Rose and Emmett disappeared to do naughty things from the sound of it.

Carlisle came through and turned on some instrumental music on the stereo system in the living room to help drown them out. "Isabella, what am I going to do with you?" He crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look at me sternly but couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Working on the cars with Rose is definitely not taking it easy."

"No worries Pop, I'm not hurting as bad now and Rosalie made sure I didn't hit myself on anything." I kissed him on the cheek and scurried away to my room. He asked Jasper to stay behind so he could talk to him for a minute.

I took a quick shower and was standing in the closet wrapped in a big towel and staring at the other side of the closet with the new clothes when Alice came in. "Hey what's up? Where have you been?"

"I was just trying to get a hold of some old acquaintances. How are you feeling?" She smiled happily at me. I wondered if I should ask her if she knew about Jasper filing for divorce. I decided not to. If he wanted to talk to her about it or if she wanted to talk to me about it then they could do that. I was staying out of it. "Can I throw your birthday party?" Well that came out of left field, and she acted as if she didn't even notice that Jasper's clothes had made their way into the empty closet space that she hadn't managed to fill up on her shopping trips yet.

"Um, Alice, my birthday isn't until the end of next month."

"I know and I hope I can get everything together by then. I have so many plans. Oh please say yes, Bella, please?" I just couldn't say no to her.

"Okay, I guess; just nothing too out there though, okay?" There was no telling what the little pixie would come up with.

"Okay! I have to go, I have so many things to do!" She kissed my cheek and flitted away calling back her goodnight.

"Do you need help?" Jasper asked from the doorway.

He was leaning against the door frame looking too damn sexy for words in a black tee shirt and jeans, barefoot. I walked over to him and peeked around him to make sure the door was closed and then pulled him into the closet with me by the front of his shirt. He chuckled and kicked the door closed on his way in.

"Can I help ya, ma'am?" He asked, wrapping his arms around my waist and bringing me closer to him.

"Well, you did such a good job of helping me last night I was thinking maybe you could assist me again." I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. "By the way, did you move your clothes in here?"

He smiled down at me and my heart skipped a beat. "Well, ya said that ya didn't mind sharin' the bed. I just assumed that went for the closet, too."

"So we're sharing a room now?" I tried to put a little false annoyance in my tone.

"Well," he looked worried now.

"We're practically living together." I tilted my head to the side, staring at him, waiting for his answer.

"I- I can move it out if you want— back to the study?" He looked hurt and I couldn't keep up the game anymore.

I picked his old cowboy hat up from where it was hanging on a little hook on his side of the closet and walked around him and back into the bedroom. I put the hat on top of the lamp that I decided to designate as his side of the bed. He'd been on my left side at home while I slept; that's where he could be here, too.

"So you were just messing with me, then? Ya really don't care?" He came over to me and tried to wrap his arms around my waist again. I stopped him and slid up onto the bed, pulling him with me by his shirt. He hovered above me, keeping all his weight off of me.

He kissed me like he was trying to devour me from the mouth down. He shifted and put a little weight on me as he reached down and gripped my thigh, pulling it up to hook around his waist. I couldn't help it as I hissed in pain. "Oh god, are ya okay?" He was up and off me, standing beside the bed before I could react.

"I'm fine come back." I reached for him but he didn't get back on the bed with me. He pulled me up to a sitting position and dragged me to the edge of the bed.

"Baby, we can't." He whispered to me. My heart fell. "It's just that you're hurt already, and I don't want to cause any more damage." He smiled and looked up at the ceiling where Emmett seemed to sound like a dying donkey. I would have to record those sounds some time and play them back to him when he got on my nerves. Maybe I could make it his ring tone for my phone. "I want this, darlin', I do so badly. But I don't want our first time to be here where everyone can hear."

"We really need to look into getting some sound proofing for these rooms." I grumbled and got up to go back into the closet to put my pajamas on. I decided against my old sweats and put on a pair of grey silk pajama pants and a matching camisole top. Jasper flitted into the closet after me and came back out a minute later wearing a pair of black men's pajama pants and a white long sleeved tee shirt.

"You don't sleep; why do you have pajamas?" I crawled under the covers on my side of the bed.

"I'm goin' ta be in this bed with ya until ya wake up tomorrow mornin'. It just seems more natural to wear pajamas than my jeans." There was a loud thump against the ceiling and Jasper flitted out and back into the room holding a boom box and a book. "Can ya sleep with music playin'?"

"Better music than that up there." He tuned it to our station, clicked off the light, and crawled in next to me. "Hey, what did Carlisle want?"

"To tell me Edward will be back tomorrow afternoon." He wasn't happy about that fact.

"Well, at least we'll be at the cabin for most of the day. We won't have to deal with him until later." I was hopeful. There was no telling with Edward. He could just come barging into the cabin after us.

"Good point. I'm glad you're smart." He kissed me. "Smart chicks are sexy." I chuckled at him and pulled him close to me.

We kissed and held each other for what seemed like hours before I finally drifted off to sleep with my head on his chest. I floated off into my dreams to "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."

The next day we didn't get to go to the cabin. Charlie called me first thing to say he was sorry for not calling and to see how I was doing. I lied and told him I was still sore but I'd be going back to school tomorrow. I didn't want him making me miss my day with Jasper. If I'd known that Alice was going to kidnap me for the first half the day and make me go over party plans I would have just gone to school.

When I finally got back to Jasper he was in the garage with Jacob, Quil, and Embry showing off his babies. Seth was inside playing with Emmett.

"Don't you guys have school?" I asked, irritated that they were taking up time I was losing with Jasper.

"Nah, once you join the pack you do school by correspondence." Embry told me.

"Why?"

"We can't all control ourselves enough to be in a school full of children." Jacob said, staring at the ground. Oh, well hell Bella that was tactless.

"Don't you guys want to go in and play with Emmett or something?" I hoped I wasn't being too obvious.

"Nah, I think I like it better out here." Jacob picked up a magazine off the work bench and sat down on a stool, making himself comfortable and smiling mischievously at me.

I took the magazine out of his hand and swatted him in the head with it. "No! Bad dog! Go play!" The others laughed and the three of them ran into the house.

Jasper wrapped his arms around me and kissed the back of my neck. "I'm sorry we didn't get to go to the cabin like I promised."

"It's okay; we'll try again this weekend." I turned and hugged him.

"How are ya feelin'?" I was just barely sore today.

"I'm pretty sure Carlisle misdiagnosed me. I'm nowhere near as sore today— I think the bruise is just on the outside."

"Good, the quicker you get better the quicker I can ravage ya." He reached down and swatted my butt lightly. I giggled.

"Jasper Whitlock Cullen!" Esme was in the door way.

He cleared his throat. "Yes ma'am?" Awe! How cute, my big bad cowboy was afraid of his momma.

"That is no way to treat a lady!" She scolded him.

"Yes ma'am. I'm sorry ma'am." He pulled away from me.

"Isabella, come in here and eat right now. I know Alice didn't give you a break today." I laughed again at Jasper's reaction to Esme and followed her in.

When I got to the kitchen the wolves were all sitting around the bar, stuffing their faces with sandwiches and chips. She put a plate in front of me and got us all sodas. She flitted around the kitchen making enough food to feed an army.

When we were done eating I tried to do the dishes but she shooed me out. We all sat around playing with Emmett. We took turns playing the winners in a fighting game. Alice even came in and played a few rounds, and Jasper hadn't pulled away from me. Emmett was ecstatic. Rose had been right; he needed more friends. He had all he could handle now.

Sometime around four that afternoon Edward flitted in. Jasper tensed but I put a hand on his knee; he tightened his grip around me and didn't start a fight. I was afraid Edward would start one. He didn't like the wolves. I was pretty sure he wasn't going to approve of Jasper and I being together.

He just stood in the room starting at everyone with a blank expression. "Here, man, you want a turn?" Seth offered him a controller.

Edward stared at it for a minute, and then took it. He sat down awkwardly on the floor and struggled just a little with the controls but caught on quickly. I couldn't have been more shocked than if he'd come in and slapped me across the face with a fish.

It was weird to say the least. But I was happy. Everything seemed to be falling into place nicely. My two monster groups were playing well together. The crazy vampire had apparently gotten himself some medication and chilled. Jasper and Alice were able to be in the same room together and still have fun without one of them having to run into another room. Esme and Carlisle stood on the out skirts of the room, smiling and holding hands. They were just so happy that their family was happy.

The wolves ate dinner with me. Esme was now vacuum sealing full plates of food. "Esme, what are those for?" I asked as I got up to clean my plate in the sink.

"They're for Charlie." She's spent the entire day cooking for me and the wolves, as well as cooking at least a week's worth of dinner for Charlie. "You just put these into the freezer and he just snips the end off and microwaves it."

"Like a TV dinner only better." Jacob supplied around a mouth full of lasagna. "You're the best cook, Mrs. Cullen, especially for someone who doesn't eat."

"Thank you dear. Don't talk with your mouth full, though." She smiled at him.

"Oh yes, ma'am. Sorry." Well I'll be damned. They were all afraid of the momma.

"You didn't have to do that, Esme. I can start cooking for him again tomorrow." But I hugged her anyway. When she pampered you and cared for you, it felt more natural. Not so much like she didn't think you could care for yourself.

"It's not a problem dear. And I think you'll be spending more time here with us, so this way he will be taken care of." She hugged me back and then went back to sealing the plates.

"What do you mean? Why?" I was worried now. Jasper flitted to my side giving me a little calm.

Jacob was the one who answered. "We're tracking a vampire who keeps slipping away."

"That's what happened to the campers, isn't it? It wasn't an animal attack." Charlie was out there hunting a vampire and he didn't even know it. What if he found it and it turned on him?

"Yeah, baby." He kissed my temple. "I was goin' ta talk ta ya about it tonight, I promise."

I looked at Jacob and he knew exactly what I was worried about. "We put two wolves on the house, Bella. They follow him while he and the deputies are searching. They stay out of site and keep them safe." I calmed a little, but there were so many things that could go wrong.

"Why'd you put them on the house?" I could understand while he was hunting the thing but not while he slept.

"Just in case the thing gets Charlie's scent and tracks him back to his house." Oh, that made more sense. "We tried putting one of us at the deputy's place too, but then we were stretched too thin and we weren't getting enough rest. Every time one group came off a tracking shift then they had guard duty. It was too much. But I'm making sure Charlie is safe, don't worry." I felt bad for the deputy, but I was happy that my dad was safe.

The wolves left soon after that. I did what homework I needed to get done before I started back to school then next day. Carlisle made sure I had a note for Gym for the rest of the week. Everything fell into a pattern after that.

More people went missing from camp sites and hiking trails so Charlie was swamped at work. On nights when he didn't make it home at all, Jasper and I would take him a plate of hot food to the station. On his one night off a week, I stayed home and cooked for him. I used Sundays to clean the house, make sure Charlie had clean clothes, and do the grocery shopping. The stock boy Riley and I developed a quick friendship; he always teased me about running things over in the store. I spent Wednesdays at the reservation for a change of scenery.

Edward stayed civil. He even helped me with my homework on nights when Jasper needed to hunt. We settled into a tentative friendship and he apologized several times for the night he scared me. He and Jasper still didn't get along, though.

Alice and Jasper seemed to settle into a comfortable spot with each other as well. They spoke to each other now—mostly just polite conversation, but it was a step in the right direction.

More and more of the wolves started making appearances at the Cullen house. They spent time playing with Emmett, sitting out in the garage with Jasper as he worked on his babies, and while Rosalie schooled me on how to care for the cars. We were all the way up to taking Emmett's engine apart and I was trying to put it back together. I thought Emmett was going to cry when he came out and saw his jeep dismembered. Rose promised she'd put it all back together if I messed it up, but I was pretty good at it. I only had to ask for help a few times.

I talked to Charlotte and Peter every other night. I kept asking when they were coming out, but they just kept promising they'd make it as soon as they were able. I set my mother up an email account and got her into emailing. She said she could tell something was wrong from the sound of my voice, so I took away the voice.

My human friends were for school only. I didn't want to take a chance of exposing them to any part of my world that they didn't have to be exposed to. If the mystery vampire turned and started tracking Charlie, he'd get my scent at the house too, so no friends at the house and no taking my scent to theirs.

When I'd returned to school it had been to all kinds of gossip. When people noticed that I was with Jasper instead of Edward, girls started saying I'd stolen him from Alice. Then the rumor mill spun a little more and at some point I was rumored to be dating both Edward and Jasper and I was trying to get into Emmett's pants. The most adamant gossips were the two girls who'd looked at me so scornfully when everyone thought I'd been with Edward.

One of them was a girl named Lauren. She talked about me even when I was right there. I'd entered class one morning to hear her saying that I was pregnant and I didn't know which brother was the father. I'd had enough.

I walked right up to her in the hall after class. She just started at me with a snotty look. "Say what you want Lauren, anyone who would believe anything coming out of your mouth would have to be an idiot, anyway. It's sad that you're so jealous that you have to spread rumors to make yourself feel better about your pathetic excuse for a life. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll find that special someone someday that gets off on snotty lying bitches." I walked away from her.

She stared after me. Students all through the halls were laughing at her now. Emmett had been the loudest. The rumors continued but not in her little clique of friends.

I could deal with a little less coddling but all in all, I was fairly content with my life other than my birthday looming over the horizon. Alice had shut me out of al planning when I told her she was going overboard. I tried to convince her and the others to cancel the party, at least until we caught the bad guy. But they all insisted that everything would be fine. Carlisle said that everyone needed an excuse to cut loose soon. Tensions were too high— my party would be just the perfect occasion to do so.

Jasper and I hadn't gotten to make another trip to the cabin. Everyone was too afraid that the mystery vampire would show up there and attack. I had faith that Jasper could take care of me but it just wasn't safe. But he did lay with me every night while I slept, even though Esme voiced a mild disproval. She was afraid that he wasn't treating me in a lady like manner. He held me while reading and listening to our station. It was the best part of my day.

Chapter 16 I hope you enjoyed

And thank you to my lovely beta PuzzlingApprentice!

Feel free to comment and review.


	17. Chapter 18

I own nothing, all for funzies.

(Just a quick thing, I know that Bella started school in March in the movies and books, and that her birthday is September 13th. However for the purposes of my story she started after the first week of school in August and her birthday is September 30th. Just thought I would clarify that so everything makes since. )

Chapter 17

Bella's POV

A week and a half before my birthday I'd had enough. Jasper and I never got any time alone together except at night when I went to bed. And then we were in a house full of vampires who could hear everything we did. The Cullens had started tracking with the wolves, they would alternate which two of them would go.

When we did get a little time, it was always cut short and started becoming increasingly frustrating. When I would try and talk to Jasper about it he would say things would get better after they caught the vampire picking off people on the out skirts of town.

I thought about talking to a friend just to vent a little but I couldn't go to Angela or Jess. What was I going to say? Oh hey guys I'm just so sexually frustrated that my vampire sweetie doesn't have the time to sex me up because he's too busy chasing after the bad vampire with the local werewolf pack. Yeah I could see those padded walls again. Talking to my mom or Charlie was out for the same reason. Also I didn't relish the idea of Charlie losing his mind over his daughter thinking about having sex.

I didn't think it was appropriate to talk to Esme or Carlisle about it. Emmett would just poke fun at me. Jacob would get that grumpy look on his face and change the subject. He seemed to be doing well with seeing me and Jasper together but I was pretty sure he would draw the line at discussing our sex life, or at least the lack thereof.

I didn't even entertain the idea of talking to Edward. He seemed to be doing okay with me and jasper as well but it was like there was something underneath it. I didn't really trust his new attitude.

Talking to Alice was so not an option. She was all for hanging out with us and everything. But that's where she drew the line. Besides discussing her soon to be ex-husband with her was beyond uncomfortable.

That just left one person. "Rose can I talk to you?" we were just tinkering around under the hood of her car. Working on the cars together had brought the two of us a little closer together. I considered her a better friend than Alice, but only by a small margin.

"Sure what's up Bella?" I smiled at her as she rubbed her hand on the back of her pants leaving a greasy hand print on her butt. I thought for a few minutes. How did I even start this conversation? I had started out just wanting someone to vent my frustrations out to. But now that I was really fixing to voice them I found myself wanting to ask her advice. "Are you going to spit it out or do you maybe want to mime it for me?" she laughed when I didn't say anything.

"Um, well," just speak you idiot! "How do I… I mean I've been trying to… and well…" this conversation was off to roaring success. I thought sarcastically.

"Oh so this is going to be one of those conversations." She laughed.

"What kind of conversations? Surely she couldn't tell where I was going with this from my unintelligible gibberish.

"This is going to be a you and Jasper conversation. A why the hell hasn't he touched me yet kind of thing huh?" she laughed.

"Kind of." I blushed. But then I gathered my courage and the flood gate exploded. "Well it's just the man is sexy as sin! Every time he touches me I feel like I'm going to lose my mind! And every single spare second we get together he's touching me and kissing me and we keep getting interrupted before we get to the really good stuff. And let's face it I'm a human teenager my hormones are just wreaking havoc on my system. Not to mention I have to listen to yours and Emmett's sex capades over my head and if he keeps teasing me I may actually explode from sexual back up!"

She laughed at me. "Sex capades?"

"Oh come on! You must know I can hear everything you're doing up there. Really Rose what are you doing to him up there to get him to make those sounds shocking him with a cattle prod?" I laughed back at her.

"Well you know you got to use whatever works." She joked. "But seriously you know it's worse for Jasper right?"

There was no way in hell that this could be worse on him than it was me. I really felt like I might cry if he started touching me again and shut it down before I got some sort of release. "I seriously doubt that."

"Okay you know how you say that your hormones are wreaking havoc with your system?" I shook my head. Oh god where they torturing me. "Well when you're a vampire everything is heightened. Your strength, site, hearing, sense of smell, touch, and all of your emotions, so when we get sexually frustrated it is so bad that it's almost unbearable. Now you take an empath like Jasper, he's in a house with two very sexually active mated couples, plus Alice who's not getting it anymore, Edward the sexually repressed geek, and then you his extremely sexy mate who wants him more than anything else. Add all that to his already heightened desire for you and I think it's a miracle that he hasn't stripped you down in front of all of us." she laughed.

Well that made since. "Yeah but he acts like it doesn't bother him to just stop and walk away…"wait a minute. "You think we're mates? Really?"

"I thought you were smarter than this Bella." She gave me an incredulous look. "Do really think that he would have filed for divorce from Alice if you weren't?"

"He said it wasn't because of me. He said it was long overdue and that he should have done it a long time ago." She gave me the look again.

"Okay I know you aren't one of us but you have to feel the pull just a little... I can see it in the two of you every time you're in a room together. You move like magnets when you move he moves and vice versa. You're all the other can think about when you're not together. If you aren't mates I'll eat this wrench." She held the piece of metal up to show me. "And as for him being so accepting of having to shut things down, he's just more experienced at having to shift his emotions to another task."

"Okay then, help me level the playing field some then." I was on a mission now.

"Meaning what?" she sounded suspicious like I was going to ask her to kidnap him for me or something. Which by the way if I couldn't break him soon I might ask her to do?

"Help me seduce him. You're the best sex kitten I know. Teach me? I want to drive him as crazy as he'd driving me." I pleaded.

"You really just know how to sweet talk a vampire. I'll help you." she seemed to be thinking on what to do when Alice flitted through the door holding a large shopping bag.

I clamped my mouth shut and stiffened. I hoped she hadn't heard us and was upset now. "Here, this is the extent of the help I'm willing to offer and I so don't want to know if it works." She smiled at me sweetly and held the bag out to me.

I peaked in to the bag cautiously like whatever was inside might jump out and attack me. "Oh my, I don't think I can…"

"Shh, Shh, shush." She put a hand up. "You're welcome." And with that she was gone.

Rose peaked into the bag. "Yup, that'll about do it."

"Why do you think she's helping me?" Alice had told me several time that Jasper and I didn't bother her but I just couldn't fathom any women not mourning the loss of my beautiful cowboy.

"Because she knows what the rest of us already know. You two are mates. And she cares for you very much. She wants you to be happy." Rose chuckled at me.

I huffed. "I wouldn't need all of this if I was already turned."

"What!" Rosalie snapped.

Oh shit! I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, or at least that's the way I had understood it. Alice had made it seem like I had to keep quiet about it. I swallowed, "I, uh, Alice saw me joining your family."

"Have you spoken to Jasper about this yet?" her eyes were wide.

"I haven't told anyone. I got the impression that I wasn't supposed to. It just slipped out." She was worrying me with her reaction. I thought she liked me, I thought she was accepting me into the family. "Why are you acting like this? I thought you just said you thought I was Jasper's mate. Why would I not join him?"

She pulled herself together. "I know that. I just hadn't thought about you being turned." She looked pained. "Don't get me wrong Bella, if you joined our family I would welcome you with open arms. But I didn't choose this life. I hate to think that anyone would choose an existence like this. You just seem to fit so seamlessly into our lives, I just never thought about you having to be turned to stay with Jasper." She was so sad.

"If you didn't choose this life, then why were you turned?" I wasn't sure if this was my business but I couldn't help asking.

She gave me a small weak smile. "None of us chose this life. I mean you know Jasper's story. Maria turned him to serve over her armies. I found Emmett, he'd been attacked by a bear and was dying quickly." she smiled then a real smile. "When I looked down at him, I knew he was my mate. I carried him back to Carlisle and he turned him for me. I was afraid I wouldn't have the strength to stop. Esme threw herself off of a cliff after losing her baby in childbirth. They thought she was dead, so they took her straight to the morgue. Carlisle just happened to come into the room and hear her faint heartbeat. He said one look at her and he knew he couldn't live without her. Edward was Carlisle's first family member. He was dying of Spanish influenza. Carlisle was lonely and took a chance. Alice came to us already turned. She has no memory of her human life or of the vampire who turned her. She just woke up one day as a vampire. If she hadn't had her gift and seen her own future of finding us, she would have become a wild animal. Carlisle was turned by accident. He was following in the footsteps of his superstitious preacher father, and hunting the monsters. When he found them he was bitten and left for dead. He had to find his own way in this existence, but he managed somehow." She got a sad far off look when she began talking about her own story.

"When I was human, I was beautiful and popular, loved by everyone. I was the prettiest daughter of a wealth father. But as wealth people are he wasn't happy with his own wealth. He wanted to marry me off to a rich bachelor in hopes that he could acquire more. Royce King fit the bill." She wasn't even there with me anymore. She was lost in her past. "I didn't love him, but I didn't dare defy my father. I like having a privileged life, and I wanted a family and babies. If I married Royce my children would never want for anything. So when he finally proposed I accepted. I had no idea what kind of monster he really was." She was trembling with anger. "One week before the wedding I left a friend's house late. I could hear them up the street being loud and laughing. I crossed the street to avoid them. I thought they might be a pack of common ruffians. But as I passed I heard Royce calling to me. I stupidly went to him. I could smell the liquor before I was up to them." She gave a dry sob. "They, they," she couldn't get it out

"It's okay Rose, you don't have say it." I couldn't stand seeing her in pain.

She looked at me like she'd forgotten I was there, but she pulled it together quickly. "They left me there bleeding in the street to die. I wanted to be dead. I was fading fast, but not fast enough. Carlisle smelled the blood and thought he was helping me. After I was turned the anger that I felt over what they'd done to me, was intensified. I murdered those men Bella. I didn't drink them. I couldn't stand the thought of any part of them being inside me. But I killed them."

I knew I should feel scared. But I didn't. They'd gotten what they deserved. "Are you telling me this in hopes that I won't want to be turned?"

"No, you asked and I'm just telling you." she sounded a little angry at me. But when she spoke again it was calmer. "But I think you have a right to know what you could be capable of. My emotions were so much more intense when I was turned that I murdered five men. They were monsters in their own right, but I would never have done it if I was still human." She was quiet for a minute. "I've never been angry at Carlisle for turning me. If he hadn't I would never have found my Emmett. But I do regret not being able to be human for my sweet mate. We had to abandon our families and I can't give him children, or grandchildren. We'll never change. All those possibilities have been lost to us." she smiled at me again suddenly. "But if you decide to make the change, I will support you. But just make sure it's what you really want." she hugged me. "Now let's get off this morbid subject and work on getting you into Jaspers delicate."

I let her change the subject because I knew she needed to get off the subject of her past. She'd given me a lot to think about, but if Jasper truly was my mate I knew I wouldn't hesitate to make the change to stay with him forever. No matter who I lost, or what choices were taken from me.

It was almost time for bed so Rosalie and I set to our task of seducing my, hopefully, mate. Rosalie did me some light makeup, and brushed my hair out until it was smooth and silky down my back. Then she scurried away wishing me luck as I started pulling tiny pieces of silk out of the bag Alice had given me. They all terrified me, but I finally decided on the most modest. A black silk very low cut night gown that hit just above mid-thigh and had a matching pair of underwear. I'd never shown this much skin in my entire life. Well other than when he'd inspected my injury. But that didn't really count.

"Bella, babe are ya ready for bed?" jasper call and I heard him close our door.

I had to take several deep breaths to calm myself. Pull it together you coward! This man is going to be your mate! Maybe. Why had I decided I had to do this? I opened the closet door and stepped out. He was standing there already in a pair of blue plaid pajama pants and grey tee shirt. Oh yeah, because you couldn't go another minute without having this gorgeous man who you loved more than anything else in the world.

"I'm ready." I said in a small voice.

He stared at me with his mouth hanging open, "Um, um."

I arched an eyebrow at him. "Are you okay?" maybe I'd over done it.

"What are you wearing?" I smiled at him. If he were human I think he'd be drooling.

Wow it worked! I played dumb. "My night clothes, why is here something wrong with them?"

He cleared his throat, "No darlin' I'm just not use to seein' so much of ya in your night clothes." he took my hand, led me to the bed, turned on our music which I couldn't sleep with out now, and we crawled under the covers. He kissed me goodnight and snuggled up close to me as he picked his book up and began reading.

Damn! It didn't work. What took place over the next few days was what I referred to as the smut parade. I let Rose help me dress every day in sexy low cut outfits, which got way to much attention at school. Every night I paraded around in our room in a skimpier nightgown than the night before. His will power seemed to be holding strong by the third night.

So I had to pull out the big guns. After I showered I changed into a sheer pink nighty with an almost not there bra, and tiny little panties underneath. When I walked out of the bathroom, my hair still damp, Jasper was perched in the middle of our bed reading. I had to clear my throat to get his attention.

He made a choking sound when he looked up at me. "Where the hell did ya get that thing?" he managed to squeak out.

I had, had it. I'd tried pulling him closer in bed and kissing him in the tiny nightgowns, I made sure to touch him more often and flirt more like Rose told me to. Nothing was working. Now I was standing here in front of him almost naked and all he wanted to know was where I got the damn thing!

"What is wrong with you!?" I yelled at him. He looked at me shocked at my outburst. "I'm standing here almost completely naked and you want to know where I got my nightgown? Am I missing something here? I mean did you want to go buy yourself one or something?" I heard Emmett laugh upstairs. I ignored him, I was too angry to care if he heard me. "Any other guy would be thrilled to have their girlfriend to be strutting around it this damn thing, but you just ignore me! I've been killing myself trying to get you to notice me! Hell I'm pretty sure I could go upstairs and strut around in front of Edward likes this and he'd damn sure notice." Okay that may have been going too far. Emmett laughed louder and I heard that granite striking granite sound as someone hit him again.

Jasper growled so loud it vibrated through the room. He jerked the blanket off the bed wrapped it around me, picked me up and flitted out of the house. He went deep into the woods with me. "What the hell do ya think you're doing!" he demanded fury written all over his features.

I was furious, and with his own anger leaking out onto me I wanted to lash out at something. He'd brought me into the cold woods just to have a fight where the others couldn't hear us. "What the hell are you doing!? Why don't you want me!?" I meant it to come out angry, but it sounded more like a sob.

He sighed and he looked pained. "Baby I do want ya." He wrapped his arms around me.

"Then why isn't any of this crap working?" I pulled the blanket open and motioned to the way to thin for Forks weather nighty. I quickly wrapped back up.

"Because I told ya I didn't want our first time to be in that house! I don't want Edward two floors above us listenin' in like a perv! I don't want Emmett laughing and poking fun at you later over it! I want it to be something special, and I don't want anyone else to get a show out of it!" I felt like an ass now.

"I'm sorry! It's just that every time we get any time to ourselves it gets interrupted, and you keep promising we'll have some time to ourselves soon and soon never comes. Then at night you kiss on me and touch me and I feel like I'm going to explode from the hormone back log!" I took a deep breath trying to keep from crying now that I was really thinking of how I'd embarrassed myself over the past few days. And the things I'd just screamed at him to where his family could hear. I had been cruel when I brought up Edward. Not just to Jasper to Edward himself as well. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'm so embarrassed. I don't know why I'm acting this way. I've never been the type of girl to just throw herself at a guy. But I just care about you so much. And I wanted to show you that. I know that you're used to getting it on a more regular basis, and I just wanted…"

He cut me off. "I swear to ya, we'll get some time together soon. I love ya to Bells, but I don't want ya ta rush into doin' somethin' so intimate just because ya think I'm used ta getting' it, or because you're afraid you'll lose me if ya don't do it." he kissed me breathless. "I would wait a thousand years if that's how long it takes for ya to be ready. I want you more than you'll ever know. But when it happens I want it to be because we're both ready for it. I'm sorry I've been teasin' you so much, I'll stop that. I should have been more considerate of your needs and what I was doin' to ya." He kissed me again. "Please forgive me baby."

"I forgive you. But you better figure out a way for us to get away from everyone else soon, even if we just go sit somewhere and stare at each other." It wasn't just about sex. I wanted time to talk to him without a pack of wolves listening in or the family. I wanted to be able to hug him and kiss him without Jacob or Edward scowling. I just wanted time alone. The sex issue was secondary; I really didn't know why I'd freaked out so badly about it.

Well that wasn't entirely true. I had a theory. I'd never in my entire life been attracted to anyone the way I was to Jasper, and when those feeling surfaced they brought with them all of my unused teenage hormones with them. I was just experiencing them all at once instead of being dealt out over a few years like other teenage girls. But that was just my theory of course. My other theory was that we were really mates and I was just experiencing the pull. Although that one scared me a little, if these feelings became heightened after I was turned we might just spend the next hundred or so years locked up in dark room somewhere making sounds like Rosalie and Emmett.

"Let's get back before ya get sick out here." He scooped me up and flitted to the house. I fell asleep felling like an idiot.

Jasper's POV

My poor mate, I thought as I held her in her sleep. I was more sure than ever that she was mate. She was feeling the pull like she was already a vampire. I'd been wondering what her sudden change in clothing styles had been all about. I felt like an ass. If I'd been a smarter man I would have figured out a way to relieve some of her stress.

I'd felt her desire of course but I just assumed it was the normal. I had no idea she was in such discomfort. I wanted to rip Edward apart when she'd mentioned walking around in front of him in the skimpy outfit. I'd felt him from two floors up get excited. The crazy bastard was still holding out hope that he'd have a chance with her.

I knew she wasn't thinking straight or she wouldn't have said any of those things where the family could hear her. I'd have to threaten Emmett to make him keep his mouth shut and not taunt her over it.

I might even get Rose to withhold sex if he can't keep his mouth in check. I had to get this whole rogue vampire issue taken care of. Bella's birthday was in a week; her party was set for this next coming Saturday. I wanted to make sure she was safe and happy. She wouldn't be able to enjoy herself if there was a monster looming on the horizon, or at least an evil one. She seemed to be quite content in the world of the monsters.

We'd been helping the wolves track but whoever the vampire was, was fast and clever. He stayed just far enough out of our range so that he could get away. Once we'd had him cornered but that stupid angry wolf Paul had lost his cool and tried to take a snap at Emmett. We'd all had to stop the pursuit to separate them before they killed one another.

I kissed her on the temple, whispered to her that I loved her with all of my heart and left to get Emmett. I asked Rose to keep an eye on Bella and we headed to the treaty line talk strategy with Jacob. I wanted to catch this fucker and focus on my mate.

Edward's POV

I couldn't help it. I could see in Jaspers head what she looked like right now. She was almost nude. And when she mentioned coming to me in the outfit my emotions slipped. I'd been so careful to keep them in check when Jasper was around.

I couldn't believe she was throwing herself at him so wantonly. He didn't deserve her. Why couldn't she see that? Why didn't she want me?

I'd been so attentive to her. I'd made sure that every time Jasper was away I was the one that spent time with her. At least when she wasn't in the garage with Rose, I couldn't figure out what she found so fascinating out there.

I tried my best to tolerate the wolves for her. I couldn't believe the rest of the family was so accepting of those freaks. But after I managed to get rid of Jasper they were next on my list. My mate didn't need anyone but me anyway. She'd come to see that eventually.

Her birthday was a week away. I just had to make sure our friendship was completely mended and then put my plan into action. I could do this. I would have her. She would be mine soon.

Bella's POV

"Where are Jasper and Emmett?" I asked as we left for school the next morning. When I'd gotten up he hadn't been there to kiss me good morning. He hadn't said anything about taking a tracking shift or needing to hunt. Maybe I put him off by my desperate act.

"He and Emmett left out last night. The alpha called and said they got a fresh trail." Edward supplied. We were in his shiny silver can.

Rose looked worried from the back seat. Alice look annoyed. "What's wrong Alice?"

"She can't see if they will be okay." Rose said in a hollow voice. She was worried about Emmett.

"I thought I was the only one who gave you that problem." I chuckled trying to lighten the mood.

"No I can't see the wolves either. When our paths cross with theirs our whole futures seem to disappear and I can't tell how it will turn out." This was the first I was hearing about this.

"They didn't want to worry you." Edward said with a smile, as he noticed my confusion over Alice's statement. He was way to chipper considering his brothers and our friends were tracking a crafty bad guy and our crystal ball was on the fritz.

"You know, I have a theory about why you can't see me, and now why you can't see the wolves."

"You're a shield." Alice cut me off in the same empty voice as Rose and stared out the window.

"A what?" I asked confused.

"I called an old friend the day you went to see Carlisle at the hospital." She said it again in a flat voice like it wasn't important. "You have a mental shield. You can block me, and Edward, and once you're turned you may be able to block other powers as well. It may even turn into a physical shield over time."

"I'm so freaking glad we've decided that I don't seem to need to know anything anymore!" I yelled at them as Edward pulling into a parking spot.

They were all paying attention to me now. "Jasper and Emmett take off after the bad guys and you can't see if they could be hurt or not! No why would that be important. You went behind my back and talked to some unknown person about me and you find out that I've got some kind of mental what the hell ever and it never occurred to you to let me know in almost a month's time!" I wished so badly Jasper was here to help calm me. I was so close to saying all kinds of things I really didn't want to. "This in my life! I'm tired of you all deciding what's best for it. And Jasper is my mate! I had a right to know that he could be putting himself into danger." Edward hissed at the word mate. "Oh stuff it you delusional creep!" I got out of the car leaving them all speechless at my outburst. I slammed Edwards's car door as hard as I could.

The day drug on slowly. Edward didn't come to any of our classes. Oh well I didn't care. I was tired of him. He'd been nice and sweet to me. But I knew underneath that calm façade he was still a creep. His hissing at what everyone else already knew was proof enough for me.

Alice and Rose went to our classes and stared at me with concern. I'd never raised my voice to them. I loved them both. But I was tired of them all telling me I needed to stay at the house where I could be watched. I was tired of at least one of them and the wolves being outside of Charlie's when I was there taking care of my over exhausted father. I know it was for our protection and they were just worried for us, but I just wanted a little bit of me time. And I wanted to be the one who decided what was best for me.

I ignored them through the day. I was sorry if I'd hurt their feeling but I wasn't ready to apologize yet. I wouldn't be ready until I had Jasper back in my arms. Stupid and petty of me but I just couldn't help it. I hated that they hadn't thought I was strong enough to deal with the facts.

When the day was over Edward was there to take us home. "Where were you today? Off pouting somewhere?" I really needed to keep my mouth shut.

"No I went looking or the others so I could report back if they were okay or not." That surprised me. He hadn't acted like he cared earlier. "They're fine. They think they are close."

I huffed. "I'm sorry for what I said to all of you." his kind gesture to reassure me after what I'd said to him broke me.

"It's okay Bella; we should have just been straight with you." Rose reached over the seat and hugged me. "I know how you feel I'm just was worried about Emmy."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about being a shield. I honestly forgot in all my party planning." Alice said in her sweet voice.

"I'm sorry I growled at you." Edward's voice was annoyed. "I shouldn't have reacted that way. I already knew what everyone suspected. I'm just having a tough time excepting." That may have been the first truthful thing I'd heard come out of his mouth since he'd come back from Denali.

I reached over and patted him on the hand. "It's okay." I told him. He smiled a small sad smile at me. He was still having trouble with the thought of me and Jasper together. But admitting it was a good step to getting over it I thought.

"Tell me your theory." Alice said interrupting my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"You said this morning that you had a theory about me not being able to see the wolves and you, what is it." oh, that's right we'd been trying to have a conversation before I threw my tantrum.

"Oh, um, well the wolves are completely unknown to you." she looked confused ant my train of thought. "Well you can see all vampires because you are a vampire. And their futures are clearer and definite because you guys are so singular minded. Once you make a decision you stick to it. The future solidifies. Humans are harder. We're full of angst, indecision, and possibilities. We're harder to pinpoint. You just never noticed because you only look into human's paths when they cross with the family's path. You've never tried looking into the wolves path's because you guys didn't really interact with any of them besides Seth before I came along and sort of forced them on you, they are completely uncharted territory to you. And apparently on top of me being human and hard to pinpoint, I've got some sort of block that I'm unintentionally putting up. You saw me as one of you when I decided I wanted it, and when I asked you to see it. I don't know but maybe asking you for my future lowered the shield so you could see it."

"That's really insightful." I wasn't sure if I should be insulted by Alice's assessment.

"Thank you." I smiled.

Edward smiled. "Smart chicks are hot." I made a face. I didn't like him using Jasper's words. But I didn't say anything I didn't want another fight right now. I just wanted to get back to the house do my homework and soak in the tub. All my muscles were tense with worry for the guys.

I picked at dinner after I finished my homework. I kept staring out the big windows waiting to see the wolves or Jasper and Emmett break through tree line any minute. They didn't.

I soaked until my water turned cool. He still wasn't back. I laid in bed listening to our station and cried silently until I drifted off.

I woke when his cool arms slid around me. I picked up my cell and it was three in the morning. He rolled me towards him and kissed me like he hadn't kissed me since our first night sharing the room, like he would devour me from the mouth down. There had been many other kisses but none like this.

"Yeah we got him!" I heard Emmett and Jacob yell from the living room.

And excited thrill ran through me. "Really?" I asked with a wide smile.

He said those wonderful words I'd been waiting for, for weeks. "We're going out tomorrow." He kissed me again.

"Oh no you don't!" Emmett burst into the room and stole me out of the bed. I was so happy I'd gone back to the sweats and tee shirt tonight. "You'll have her to yourself all day tomorrow! Right now we celebrate!"

All the wolves were there laughing and joking, recalling their different tracking stories. Even at three in the morning Esme was a wonderful host. She provided snacks and drinks. Emmett put on music and danced around with Rosalie. Everyone was in a partying mood, several of the wolves danced around with Alice. Even Edward was here smiling. I even managed to dance around a couple of time with some of the wolves, once with Emmett and half a turn with Edward before Jasper claimed me. I wasn't good at dancing. I was glad all my partners had big feet I could stand on while they danced around. I was so tired. I was falling asleep on the couch before they called it quits.

Jasper scooped me back up and tucked me in. I was so happy. He was okay. He'd come home safely to me. Jacob was okay, the pack was all alright. Emmy-Pooh was okay. Life could go back to normal, or as normal as it could be living in the monster world.

Jasper's POV

It was over! Jacob and the pack had flushed him towards us. Emmett got his arms around him and I tore him to pieces. It was a beautifully choreographed plan.

He'd been a newborn. Someone had turned him and apparently abandoned him. Maybe one of the vampires Jacob and the pack had taken care over the last few months. I knew they'd taken down at least one group of them. I didn't really care about his origins. I was happy he was gone. I wanted to get back to my mate.

We could leave in the morning and stay at the cabin all weekend. We could be together in whatever way she chose. I just wanted her happy.

As she slept I packed her some food and drinks. I also took the liberty of packing us a bag of clothes in case she wanted to stay the night. I found myself nervous. If she did decide she wanted to take our relationship further, which I was so on board with, this would be our first time together. My first time with my mate, I wanted it to be perfect. I quickly flitted around and packed us a few extras to make sure it would be.

She only slept five hours and then she was up bouncing around practically vibrating with her joy. She made a call to her dad. He let her know that he'd shot the bear attacking people. We'd taken a little extra time to flush a bear out and send it in their direction. We stuck around out of site to make sure it didn't hurt Bella's father. Emmett grumbled that it had been a damn waist of a good bear.

Her father expected her back home Sunday night. He was going to take a couple of days off to spend with her after he wrapped up his paper work this weekend. Well hell, I would only get tonight with her. I took care of one obstacle only to run into another, and Charlie wasn't an obstacle I could rip the head off of if I wanted to keep Bella happy.

She also made a happy call to her mother. She'd switched to emailing her mother when the women noticed Bella's moods shifting to annoyed and stressed over the phone. They were happy chatting away to each other. Bella even told her we'd started dating. I couldn't help but be overjoyed. If her mother had lived closer she would have taken me home to introduce me as her boyfriend.

She text Charlotte and Peter. She asked them again when she'd get to see them. They gave her the usual answer. As soon as they could manage to get away, I knew the truth though. They were waiting to surprise her for her birthday. I couldn't wait to see the look on her face when they arrived. I couldn't wait to see the look on charlotte's face when she got a good look at Bella and me in the same room.

Once Esme had her fed, we fled. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked as I opened her car door for her.

"Oh I'm sorry babe, I forgot ya don't like that." I closed the car door, and flitted around to the other side to get in.

"I mean why you are opening the door for me when you're riding in the passenger seat." Like hell! Nobody drove my babies.

I gave an I don't think so look. "Rose!" she yelled. My sister was here instantly with an evil grin. "You said I could drive one, when I learned to take care of one. Rosalie, have I learned to take care of them yet?"

"She took Emmett's transmission apart and put it back together twice. She's changed the spark plugs and oil in my car. She changed out all of Carlisle's tires on his car." She whispered the next part. "And she helped me disable Edwards cars last week when he couldn't figure out what was wrong with them." There was a roar from in the house. "Got to go!" Rose flitted off with an evil grin as Edward came storming out.

"Get back here Rose!" he chased after her, Emmett came out of the house chasing after Edward. Yup things were back to normal.

Bella stood in front of me holding her hand out for the keys. Damn it! A deal was a deal though if I backed out now she'd be mad. "Be gentle." I pleaded dropping the keys into her hand.

She squealed and got behind the wheel of the black Charger. Oh god I hoped she'd be gentle. She started it, switched the radio off of our usual station to a county station. "Not a chance." She smiled an evil grin to rival any of Rose's and peeled out singing along to here for the party.

I'd been scared at first gripping the dashboard like a frightened human, but my baby knew had to drive when she wasn't behind the wheel of that old dinosaur of hers. I was going to have to get her something of her own to soup up.

We made it to the cabin in record time. "I want to drive the Barracuda tomorrow!" she declared with a dazzling smile as she jumped out of the car and headed for the house. Her mood was so light and care free, mine just followed suit.

I unpacked the trunk and she snagged a duffle bag I didn't remember packing and locked herself in the bedroom. I wondered how she'd snuck it into the trunk without me noticing.

She came out wrapped in the thick robe. "Change I'll meet you there." She ran out in the direction of our heated lake. I took advantage of her excitement. I flitted around the bedroom, kitchen, and living room making sure everything was perfect. Then I changed into a pair of white and blue trunks and flitted in her direction. She hadn't made it there. I scooped her up and ran us the rest of the way. She squealed happily.

I sat her on the bolder and sat up the little mp3 player with the speakers so we'd have some sounds while we played and I jumped it. I turned to tell her to hurry her butt up, but the only thing that came out was a squeak.

She'd dropped the robe bad was standing there smiling down at me with that same evil grin. I was loving her new happy confident mood today. She was wearing a chocolate colored bikini with a green swirling pattern all over it. She had tiny chill bumps on her skin but she smiled not noticing. She'd gained a little weight due to Esme's cooking for her all the time, but she was still slender. Her stomach was still flat but she was fuller in her breast and hips, more rounded, more womanly instead of a thin frail girl. She was beautiful, and she was mine.

"Moves like Jagger? Really?" she asked as she stepped closer to the edge of the rock and made a face at the speaker.

I found my voice and smiled at her. "I like all kinds of things darlin' don't pigeon hole me." I winked at her. "Now get in here now or I'm comin' to get ya."

"Hmm, let me think. Do I really want to come in there with you." she was teasing me now. We couldn't have that.

"I warned you." I flitted up and kissed her before I tossed her screaming into the warm water. We splashed, and talked, and held each other kissing in the water for about an hour and a half. "Are you ready to head back to the cabin?" I asked trailing tiny kisses down her neck.

"Mm hm." She said trailing the same kisses down my own neck making me shiver. I loved the look on her face when we entered the little house. I had a small fire burning needed to be stoked now, and on every flat surface of I could find I had put candles. There was path from the door leading to the bedroom of blue, purple, and green orchid pedals.

She walked the pedaled path and dropped the thick robe in the bedroom. I had a couple of candles sitting on the widow seal and dresser just to give off a faint glow in the room. Even though it was still day out the entire house was dark due to the over cast sky except for the fire and candle glow.

I could feel her anxiety creeping up battling with her desire. I sat the mp3 player down and put it on in the air tonight and put it on repeat low. "Baby, we don't have ta do anything you're not comfortable with. If you want right now I can go and make ya somethin' to eat and we can sit in front of the fire readin'. Or…"

She cut me off kissing me suddenly. Her desire had won out. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her firmly against me. I moved one to skate over her body from her neck, down over her breasts, lower over her stomach. I wanted to touch more of her. I needed to.

I picked her up and laid her down on the bed. I crawled in next to her I was careful to keep all of my weight off of her staying propped up on one arm as I leaned over her to kiss her. My other hand moving to ghost over her body again, she wrapper her hands around my neck and moaned as I massaged her breasts through the bathing suit top.

I could feel her need she wanted more. I wanted to take it slow though. I wanted to savor every minute of this. As much as I loved her and needed her there was still that tiny voice in the back of my head screaming what if you aren't her true mate? It might be selfish but if charlotte told us we weren't mates and she pushed me away I would at least have these moments right here to cherish for eternity. I loved her so much.

I ran my hand slowly down her stomach and traced my fingers lightly across the skin just above the bikini bottoms. "Jasper please." She pulled back from our kiss and pleaded with me in a breathy voice. "I need you." she bit her bottom lip and I almost gave in right then and just took her.

I kissed her again hungrily. I wanted to make her feel how much I needed her as well. I slid my fingers past the elastic band at her hips. I continued down until my fingers could massage the sensitive jewel hidden underneath the damp material.

She moaned loudly and clutched at me. Her rush of excitement flowing over me was making it hard for me to keep control. I wanted to be inside her so badly, to be joined with her. The more she panted and pleaded my name the more my control seemed to crumble.

I started to slide a finger into her already wet center and she grabbed my wrist to stop me. I froze. If she wanted to stop now we would. I might be taking a bath in ice water later but I would respect her wishes.

"Please Jasper, I need you now." She pleaded with me again. My self-control shattered. I quickly got rid of her bathing suit top and bottoms kissing her skin where ever I could in the process. I noted everywhere that got a good reaction. Sucking her nipple into my mouth and running my tongue over the rigid peak caused a pleased moan. And running my tongue over the soft area of the crease between her hip and leg earned me loud moan and her fingers tangling in my hair. I flitted away only long enough to get rid of my own bathing suit and I was back on the bed. My upper body hovering above her as I balanced my weight on my elbows and my lower body pressed tightly to hers.

She spread her legs for me and wrapped them around my waist. She was breathing heavily in anticipation. She was scared to. A thought occurred to me. "Bella?"

"Yes?" her voice shook as she stared into my eyes.

"Have you ever…" I waited for her answer

She bit her bottom lip and shook her head no. oh god. Could I do this? I would have to be careful even if she'd been experience, but with her being a virgin I was suddenly terrified. What if I hurt her and ruined her first time. What if I made her hate sex because I was too rough with her?

She read my worry. "I love you." she pulled me into a kiss and moved her hips against me sliding her wetness along my already throbbing length. "I trust you." she moved to kiss along my jaw to my earlobe. She kissed it and ran her tongue around the outer edge. My body reacted on its own. I growled and ground myself against her. "I want you, please." Her love and trust that she seemed to push out at me gave me confidence.

I could do this. I repeated over and over in my head. I could give her what she needed. I moved and pressed the tip of myself against her opening. She swallowed and started up at me with such love that I so didn't deserve.

I pushed into her slowly at first until I felt the resistance. I pushed in swiftly in one quick movement so I wouldn't prolong her pain. She cried out and buried her face in my shoulder. hands that had moved down to rest on my back were trying to dig into my hard skin. I stayed still letting her get use to me. Waiting for body to relax and accept me.

It only took a few moments and I was surprised when she moved her hips slightly trying to force me to move. "Are you okay darlin'?" my voice came out strained. She felt so wonderful around me, I was struggling not to continue and hurt her.

"Yes." It was clear and demanding. I slid out of her just a little and then back in. we fit together so perfectly, like we were made for each other. She stiffened as I entered her a few more times and then her body began to relax. I could feel the beginning stirrings of pleasure flowing out of her.

She moved her hips against mine, meeting me as I pushed back into her. He found a slow steady rhythm. One of my hands moved to grip her thigh. Moans and growls escaped my mouth several times. When one of her hand moved down to bury her nails into my bottom I sped up. I began pulling further out of her and driving back in harder.

She cried out and I feared I'd hurt her. But the pleasure pouring out of every part of her was hard to ignore. When I move my angel and began moving my hips as better angle she cried out my name over and over again as I hit the perfect spot inside of her.

I could feel her pleasure building. I continued at a steady pace. I had to take my hand away from her thigh and grip the side of the mattress to keep from harming her and my own pleasure started to build as well. I wanted her to find her release first. I pushed everything I was feeling into her. She cried out as her body tightened around me and pleasure exploded through her then out into me.

I began moving and a more erratic rhythm and pace as the pleasure I pushed into her combined with her own crashed down around me and I released inside of her. It felt like a tidal wave of pleasure as my orgasm hit me hard. We both continued to cry out for what seemed like forever as our combined pleasure mingled and flowed into each of us from the other. I thought it would never end and I never wanted it to.

When it was finally over she lay beneath me panting. She was gorgeous in the afterglow. I was reluctant to pull out of her, but she needed my weight off of her. I laid down next to her, and pulled her down on my chest.

"I love you so much." She whispered against my skin as she drifted off to unconsciousness. I had been so well pleased, more pleased that I had ever been in 168 years. If I could have slept I would have drifted off exhausted and well spent with her. I settled for laying in heaven and watching her sleep.

Her birthday was in one week. Charlotte would come. I knew now that no matter what her answer was about Bella and I, I was going to ask the sweet angel in my arms to join our family, to join me. I loved her with every fiber of my being.

Chapter 17

I hope you all enjoyed the next chapter is officially were the darkness hits. I know I've been promising it bad it's here. Please feel free to review and comment.

okay everybody my Beta is having computer issues I'm sorry for any mistakes and I'm hoping she's back soon.


	18. Chapter 19

I own nothing, all for funzies.

Chapter 18

Bella's POV

I stretched and was sore in all kinds of good ways. Jasper wasn't in bed with me and I wondered how long I'd been out. The candles were still burning so I it couldn't have been that long. I could hear him moving around in the other room. I wrapped the sheet from the bed around me and went out to find him.

He was flitting around in the kitchen area. He looked so good in just his jeans and nothing else, and he was all mine. "Hey what are you doing?" I asked wrapping my arms around his waist and kissing his back. My lips trailed across one of the scars on his back. I looked at it but still couldn't see it. "Did you ever ask Carlisle why I couldn't see your scars?"

He stiffened but answered me. "He said that whatever makes our skin so hard and gives us the diamond facets look under our skin give the illusion of perfect skin to a human eye. Since vampires have such extraordinary eye site we can see them."

He turned in my arms and kissed me. "I thought ya might be getting' hungry." I looked around him to see had made me a sandwich. "I would have made ya more but the cabin isn't exactly updated and fully functional. I'll have to get that fixed so you'll have everything ya need here." I was happy to know we'd be back here enough for him to have to update the kitchen for me.

"I do have everything I need right here." I pulled him close and kissed him. I had no idea where I was getting all this confidence with Jasper but I loved it. It was just so natural and easy to be with him now that we didn't have all the stress surrounding us.

He kissed me back, then picked me up and sat me on the counter pulling the sheet away from my upper body. I pushed him back just enough to undo his jeans and he stopped me. "What's wrong?"

"Bella look." He motioned to my breasts. My left beast had a few small bruises. My right breast had one larger bruise on my outer side. I started to tell him it was fine but he pulled the sheet the rest of the way off and I had a hand print shaped bruise on my right thigh, and several bruises scattered along my hip bones.

"Jasper its fine, they don't hurt." I tried to pull him back to me.

"Bella I hurt ya." he had pain in his eyes. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done this." his words hurt, and on top of that his sadness and guilt were leaking out. I could feel them.

Instead of getting sad with him I got angry. "Why are you ruining this for me?" he looked torn. He wanted to be guilty, but he wanted me to be happy at the same time. "I told you they don't hurt. Everything we did felt wonderful. I would have told you if you'd hurt me." he looked unconvinced. So I took a different route.

I closed my eyes and remembered every touch, every caress, and kiss. I relived the feelings I'd had. I tried to push them out at him. I opened my eyes, his were smoldering from the passion I'd sent him. I tried to feel every bit of love I held for him and push it all into him as well. I hoped I was doing this right. "Can you feel everything I'm feeling right now?"

"Yes, but…"

"But nothing! Look Jasper I'm human, I'm going to bruise, but I'll survive." I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. He could have stopped me if he'd wanted, but he didn't really want to. He was scared to hurt me, but I could feel how much he wanted me. It was strange I could feel what he was feeling so clearly now. "Don't push me away now. I just had the most wonderful experience of my life. And I don't want you freaking out because I came away with a few bruises. Hell if you were a human guy I could have come away with just as many. At least you didn't break anything. We'll just have to do some trial and error until we get it perfect." I smiled at him and he smiled back at me now.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring ya down. I just don't like that I hurt ya." he kissed me lightly. "Maybe your right. We'll have to try some trial and error." The smile reached his eyes and I was thrilled. He wasn't going to push me away.

He kissed me again and I ran my hands over his body. Across his chiseled chest, his broad shoulders, down his back and finally I was back to the button of his pants. He didn't stop me this time. I reached in wrapped my hand around him. Oh my god he was huge! How had I not hurt so much more while we made love? I hadn't had time to look at him naked before he was back on top of me earlier. He'd moved at vampire speed.

A thrill of excitement ran up my spine and I massage him lightly. "Bella." He moaned pulling back from out kiss. I used my feet to shimmy his pants down further and scooted further forward on the counter. I wanted him to touch me but he was careful to keep his hands gripped on the counter. I wrapped my legs around his waist and angled him at my entrance.

He pushed in to me in one solid motion and I couldn't help but cry out. I was still sore but he felt so good. I loved how perfectly we fit together. He began moving out of me slowly, I gripped his shoulders to steady myself on the counter ledge. I heard a cracking noise and looked down at his hands. He was demolishing the counter.

"Take me to bed." I panted. He didn't argue he slid one hand under my bottom and the other slid up my back and he carried me to the bed while he was still inside me.

Instead of laying me down, he laid on his back with me straddling him on my knees. I was a little self-conscious now being the one in charge of things. He must have felt it. "I love you baby, we can take this at your pace." He was trying to make me feel more secure.

I was still a little nervous at first but my body seemed to know exactly what to do. I began moving up and down using my legs to do most of the work. I braced my hands on his chest for balance. He stared into my eyes with such love.

I rotated my hips as I moved and he closed his eyes and moaned loudly. His hands landing on my hips. Thank god I thought he was going to grip the mattress the whole time. I wanted him to touch me so badly. He was careful not to squeeze me but he helped me to move faster, and brought his hips up to meet mine.

I felt it when he sent his own pleasure into me again. My own orgasm hit me at the same moment his did. I continued to move on top of him as we both cried out. Our mingled pleasure coursing through both of us in what seemed like an endless cycle. Finally it eased up and I collapsed onto his chest panting as my body was still being wracked with aftershocks.

After several minutes of laying in silence he chuckled. "Well as trial and error goes I think we can put this on into the win column."

"Your damn straight." I said as I lay there my entire body turned to jelly and useless.

We made love once more that day and he helped me to shower since my legs were all but useless. I lay on the couch while he packed everything back into the car. We had planned to stay the night but our last round of love making, jasper ripped a large portion of the mattress open and bent the old metal frame so that the bed was now lopsided.

I had dozed off when he picked me up and carried me out to the car. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep as soon as he started to drive. I was the happiest I'd ever been in my entire life. I had the strangest dreams that I could really remember. Just some random conversation.

Jasper's POV

I'm been so worried that she would turn away from me and not want anything to do with me when I'd seen the bruises on her sweet body. I'd hated myself for my selfishness. I shouldn't have made love to her while she was still human. I could have broken her poor body.

But she didn't turn away from me. She somehow managed to push her emotions into me. Everything she was feeling. She wasn't in pain. She didn't hate me. She loved me. And she felt so much passion and desire for me I couldn't resist her.

I'd wanted us to spend the entire night in the cabin, but when I couldn't resist her a third time I kind of broke the bed. She said she'd be more than okay to sleep on the couch but I didn't want her to be uncomfortable. So I'd packed us up and we'd headed home. Also the urge to bite her, and put a mating mark on her was almost overwhelming. I had to get us back around the others so I wouldn't give into the urge. Her sent had already begun to change a little. Not to the extent that it would after she was changed and I marked her as my mate. But our two scents mingled on her now, her sweet Jelly bean sent as Emmett called it, and my own muskier, leather and spice sent was all over her even after her shower.

It would linger for weeks if we weren't physical again. If we were it would stay. I wanted it to stay. Unfortunately the others would notice it. I'd have to hog tie and gag Emmett not to aggravate her about it.

She slept the whole way home and didn't even stir when I picked her up to carry her into the house.

"Dude, what did you do sex her into a coma?" Emmett asked with a chuckle as I carried her toward our room.

"Shut up Emmett, I don't want you to wake her." I snapped at him quietly.

"Is she okay?" Rose asked following me into our room.

"Yeah, she's got a few bruises though." I admitted shamefully.

"Well that's not too bad. At least you didn't break anything or shatter anything." I smiled at my sister.

"That's what she said." I chuckled. "I still feel bad though. I should have waited until Charlotte came. Then I could have just asked her to be with me forever. I wouldn't have hurt her then."

Rose stiffened at the mention of Bella joining our family. I knew why and I should have kept my mouth shut. "Well she seems to be in one piece and sleeping peacefully, I think you did just fine." I was surprised she didn't argue with me.

"Where are the others?" I asked as I took off Bella's shoes and coat. I knew Esme would voice her opinion about Bella and me sleeping together before we were married once she found out. If Edward was around I figured he'd have made his annoying presence and opinion on the matter known. Carlisle would neither approve nor disapprove. He would only caution us to be careful. I wasn't really sure what Alice would do.

"Edward took off to hunt after Rose kicked his ass." Emmett chuckled from the door way. "Alice said something about having to go pick up some stuff for the party. The little pixie is going way overboard. And Carlisle and Esme went to some function for the hospital."

"Not that I don't approve but why did you kick his ass?" I smiled at her proudly.

"He screamed at me about his car like I'd killed someone. When I told him he needed to back off that it was just a joke and his cars were fine and I tried to walk away from him he reached out and grabbed me." Oh that was such a mistake. No one touched Rosalie without her permission. "So I broke his arm and shattered his knee cap."

"Good girl." I told her with a smile. "Hey, um how is Alice doing really?" we had managed to get to a point where we could have polite conversation, and I'd let her know that I'd already spoken to Jenks. She seemed quite happy with my actions. But other than that I hadn't bothered to really see how she was doing.

"She's fine Jasper." Rose said. "She's been more like herself lately than she has in a long time. She loves Bella." That made me happy. It gave me hope that we'd be able to get to a point where we could be like me and Emmett or me and Rose.

They said their good nights I was glad that Emmett and Rose were so understanding and supportive about Bella and me. I crawled into bed with my sweet doe eyed angel. I would worry about the other's reactions tomorrow. For now I was so utterly and completely happy.

Bella's POV

I woke and I was so sore. Apparently sex forced you to use muscles you didn't even know you had. I groaned as I stretched.

"Are you sore love?" Jasper wrapped an arm around my waist and buried his face in my hair.

"Just a little, but I'll be okay." I turned and kissed him.

"How about I run you a hot bath with some epsom salt and go make you breakfast before you have to head home."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Are you coming with me to the house?" I didn't want to be away from him. Oh Damnit I was already that clingy girlfriend.

"Of course. But I'll need to leave after a little bit so Charlie can have some time with ya and I really need to hunt tonight baby." His eyes were starting to darken again already. Since I'd been staying with the Cullens I noticed they had to hunt about every two days to keep their eyes from turning dark and someone noticing.

"Okay but you better be back in time to tuck me in." he laughed and got up to go run my water. He helped me undress and then flitted off to make my breakfast. Cheeky teasing vampire.

The water was wonderful. My muscles eventually relaxed some, I knew I'd still be sore but I could take an ibuprofen and I'd be okay long enough to get through having to function in front of Charlie. I decided on a pair of loose green pajama pants and one of jaspers long sleeved black sweaters. I hoped he didn't mind. I just going home to cook and clean for Charlie and get homework done. There was no need to dress up.

Esme and Jasper were in the kitchen flitting around cooking my breakfast. When I sat on the stool and Esme came over to hug me her nostrils flared and she stiffened just a bit shooting Jasper a look. But she recovered quickly. "How are you feeling this morning dear? Did you have a nice time yesterday?"

"Yes mam I had a nice time. And I feel wonderful this morning." I told her truthfully. She didn't really need the details. I was a little afraid of mamma to. She kissed my cheek and went back to cooking.

"Good morning Bella." I heard Alice as she came in the door. I turned as she hugged me and caught her nostrils flare as well. She flitted to Esme with her pink birthday planner binder in hand and they began talking so fast I couldn't understand it. Alice smiled gesturing to something in the book that Esme smiled about as well.

"Can I see?"

"No," Alice snapped. "It's a surprise and you think I'm going overboard."

"That's because you are." I laughed at her.

"It will be perfect, and you will love It." she kissed my cheek and she was out of the room. They were the kissiest family. I chuckled to myself.

When I turned back around Esme was sitting a plate in front of me and Rosalie was suddenly beside me. "Morning Bella." She gave me a knowing smile.

I blushed and looked down at my plate. "Morning."

"Alice says I'm supposed to give you a fresh mani and pedi on Friday night so you're all fresh for the party on Saturday." She informed me.

"Fabulous. I don't have to go through another full makeover again do I?" she smiled at me and shook her head no. I was happy for that. I had enjoyed my first makeover with the girls but it wasn't something I could see myself doing often.

Emmett came in "Morning all!" he said in a loud booming voice. He leaned over me and kissed the top of my head, and then he sniffed me.

"What are you doing?" I asked surprised by his weirdness.

He sniffed me again and Jasper growled at him. I wished he hadn't, the noise didn't have the same annoying quality to it now. It was a turn on now.

Emmett ignored him, "What happened to my jelly beans?" I picked up a piece of my hair and sniffed it. I smelled like my strawberry shampoo. I didn't stink.

"Emmett leave her alone and let her eat." Esme scolded him. He chuckled and took a seat on the barstool on the other side of Rose.

I ignored him and began eating. I stopped and turned around when I heard something hit the floor behind me. Edward was standing in the door way with his nostrils flared. He growled and Jasper growled back.

"Okay seriously do I stink or something?" I snapped at every one.

"No." Edward said and picked up his book and stormed out. It sounded like he may have ripped a door off in another room.

Rose leaned over to me and whispered, which was stupid because the others could still hear. "Your sent has changed since your recent sex-capades." She threw my words back at me.

I made a choking noise and fled from the room. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought about that. They were vampires they'd be able to tell I wasn't a virgin any more they could probably smell jasper all over me. I grabbed my jacket and my book back and fled the house.

Jasper caught me before I could get into my truck. "Where are ya goin' little girl?" he smiled at me. I knew he was just trying to make sure I was okay and covering it up with playfulness.

"I'm going to hide under my bed and never come back out." I told him, burying my face in his chest in my embarrassment.

He rubbed his hands up and down my back. "I don't think it's all that bad." he chuckled at me.

"They all know! I mean I'm not ashamed but that's a private thing and…"

"Isabella Marie Swan get back in here and eat your breakfast!" Esme called out the front door to us.

"Ya know if ya don't do what she says she'll just come out and get ya." He chuckled at me again. He was just getting all kinds of amusement at me expense today. I let him lead me back to the house. He was right she'd come after me. And she was faster than the truck.

Emmett and Rosalie were still there. Emmett was chuckling at me. "What's so funny chuckles?"

"Oh nothing, I'm just wondering what sort of noises you make." He laughed harder. Jasper tightened his arm around me.

"It couldn't be any worse than the dying animal sounds that come out of your room." I told him in an annoyed voice.

"Hey, say what you want but those are the sounds of a well pleasured man! But seriously what does Jasper sound like?" I flushed bright red at his question.

"Emmett!" Esme snapped at him.

He made a pained expression, "Yes mam?"

"This is not an appropriate conversation to be having at the breakfast table! You and Rose go find something else to do."

"Yes mam." They both said heading out.

"Not in your room!" she called to them and they veered off in the other direction heading towards the woods. "Now, I wanted to speak to the two of you." I sat back down and started eating again, and waited for her to start talking again. "I know that times have changed and I know that you two don't have the same consequences in having sex as you would if Jasper was a human boy, but you should still be careful of injury." I was getting a safe sex talk from a vampire mother. How could this day get any more uncomfortable? I so wished I hadn't thought that question almost immediately. "Any way so will you two be getting married now?"

I began choking on the bite of food in my mouth. "Bella! Are you okay?" Jasper asked as I choked down the food.

I coughed for a moment. How the hell had she gotten to this topic? I couldn't even begin to fathom her train of thought here. "Um, okay. Well thank you for breakfast Esme. It was very nice seeing you again." I got up and began backing up towards the door.

"Bella are you okay?" Esme asked looking very worried.

"I have to be getting back to Charlie and um well bye!" I turned to flee from the room only to run into the wall face first. I fell back into blackness for a just a moment.

"Bella!" Jasper yelled catching me before I hit the ground.

"I'm okay." I groaned as soon as my vision cleared. I got up with his help.

"Esme I think I should take her home. I'll be back later and we can continue this conversation after I discuss it with Isabella." He held onto my hand and kept an arm around me as he led me out to my truck not waiting for her answer.

He drove while I sat dumbfounded in the passenger seat. "Are ya okay now darlin'?" he was smiling at me in amusement.

"I'm fine stop laughing at me." I snapped at him.

He pulled the truck over on the side of the road the wooded area just outside of town. "What are ya so upset about darlin'?"

I just shook my head at him. She wants us to get married! And the way she said it she wants it to be soon! My mother had been so against marriage before you were well over the consenting age of adult hood that she drilled her opinion into my head every chance she got. It had been the only real parental advice she'd given me other than the sex talk. I wasn't really sure what my own personal opinion of marriage was but I knew I was only seventeen years old and I couldn't get married right now. And Jasper wasn't even divorced from his first wife yet, which by the way made me feel like a giant skank for sleeping with him now, especially since everyone knew about it. I just loved him so much and when he put his hands on me all reason flew out the damn door.

"Ya know she didn't mean ta shock ya like that. She's just from a different era baby. I'll talk ta her when I get back tonight." he leaned over and kissed me lightly on the lips.

"Thank god! I cannot have that conversation again." I gave a little chuckle of relief. "How ridiculous was that right? Us getting married." I laughed again.

A look of pain crossed Jaspers face and I wanted to kick myself for having a big mouth that my foot fit into so perfectly. "Ya don't want to marry me darlin'?" This so might be the worst day of my entire life.

"No! I mean yes! I mean no!" I was having trouble organizing my thoughts.

He arched an eyebrow at me in confusion. "Well which is it?"

I took a deep breath, "I'm only seventeen, I haven't thought about what I'm going to do with my life past being with you." well that wasn't a good argument.

"So let me get this straight. Even though ya don't know what ya want to do with the rest of your life, ya do know that ya want to spend it with me? But ya don't know if ya want to marry me right?" I shook my head yes at him. He smiled at me, "Ya are aware that, that makes no sense what so ever." He laughed.

"Look she just shocked me. I mean my mother has drilled into me what a horrible mistake marriage is before you're at least thirty and I panicked. All I could think of when she asked if we were going to be getting married was Renee ranting and raving that we were making a mistake. And you aren't even divorced from your first wife yet! I don't know if I want to get married! I haven't even graduated yet. And haven't even discussed marriage we've only been together like a month." I continued to rant.

"Well, let's talk about it then." He said suddenly.

"What do you mean talk about it, what do you want to talk about?" I wasn't sure I liked where this conversation was taking us. We'd just had a wonderful night together and now I was stuck in the worst conversation ever!

"What would ya say if I asked ya to marry me right now?" he asked it with a slight smile.

"Are you asking me to marry you?"

"Do ya want me to ask ya ta marry me?"

"Do you want me to want you to ask me to marry you?"

"Maybe." He said with a wide smile. "What would you say?"

"I don't know what I would say I haven't been asked. I won't know until that issue comes up." I told him in a strained voice.

"Will ya marry me Isabella?" he said grabbing my hand.

Did I want to marry him? I love him. But I was only seventeen, Charlie would shoot him. I'd be eighteen in a week but I was pretty sure it still wouldn't stop my dad from trying to shoot him. If I didn't marry him would he leave me? I tried to imagine my life without Jasper in it. I got a sudden sharp pain in my chest. I don't think I could stand it if he wasn't there. I knew I wanted to be turned, and if were mates we'd be together forever. What did it matter if we had a piece of human paper to make it official? I knew the answer to that. It was important to him. He wanted to tie himself to me, in the human world as well as the vampire world. What did I care what anyone else thought about it, it made him happy so it would make me happy.

But there were things that had to be taken care of first. I had to graduate, I had to be turned, I had to make sure that my family was taken care of and that we were free and clear to be together without anyone's interference.

I smiled at him and slid across the seat and crawled into his lap with my back to the driver's side door and my legs curled up beside him. I wrapped my arms around his neck kissed him and said. "No." I giggled at his shocked expression. He'd been anticipating a completely different answer. "I'm not going to marry you because your mother wants us to. And I'm not going to say yes until your divorce is final anyway. So when you ask me again you make sure it's for the right reason and at the right time. Then we'll see where we stand."

He smiled at me again. "That's a very good answer." He whispered to me with his forehead pressed to mine.

He kissed me again and ran his hand up my inner thigh. I moaned and then let out a surprised squeal at a loud knock on the window. "Hey none of that!" Jacob yelled with a grumpy look.

I slid out of Jasper's lap and back in my own seat as he rolled the window down. "What's up you peeping tom?" I grumbled at him.

"I'm not a peeping tom if you're humping each other out in the open like this." he grumbled back.

"Why are you out here?" I asked

"Patrolling, we don't stop working just because we get one. I thought you were supposed to be going back home now that Charlie has his case all wrapped up." he shot Jasper a not so friendly look.

"We're on our way there now. You and Billy want to come over for dinner tonight Charlie would love it." I wanted to get him off the thought of Jasper and I being all over each other. My dad would love to see his fishing buddy after so long.

"Yeah!" Jacob was much happier now. "We'll be over tonight after I finish my shift. I don't think I can stomach my dad's horrible cooking after all yours and Esme's cooking." We both laughed and he took off with a quick goodbye.

"If only everyone was as happy with nothing more than a home cooked meal like Jacob was." I mused with a smile.

"I don't think it's the food he's really excited about." Jasper told me as he started the truck back up and got us back on the road.

"What's that mean?"

"He's attracted to you. I can feel it coming off him every time he looks at you. It's pretty close to being in love with you." he didn't sound happy about that.

"It's just a friendship love. We've been best friends since we were practically in diapers." He didn't argue with me. I was sure he was wrong. He'd just misread it.

We pulled up to the house and Charlie met us at the door. "Hey kids." He looked a little irritated at seeing Jasper but smiled at me and wrapped me in a big bear hug as soon as I stepped in the door.

I hugged him back. "Hey dad! Have you eaten yet? I could make you something."

"I'm fine Bells." We all went into the living room and Jasper sat next to me on the couch, Charlie sat in his chair and they began watching sports. "So Jasper, how's the family doing?" I was happy Charlie was at least trying to make polite conversation.

"They're very good sir." His accent was back to being almost nonexistent again.

"None of this sir stuff it's just Charlie." They went back to watching the TV in silence, only occasionally commenting on whatever was going on, on screen.

"I'm going to take some fish out of the freezer for tonight. I talked to Jake earlier and he and Billy are coming over for dinner tonight. "

Charlie perked right up. "That's great, jasper are you staying to?" well I hadn't expected that. I got up and walked to the kitchen as they chatted.

"Oh, no thank you Charlie. I'm going to head over to a friend's house pretty soon to study and my brother is going to pick me up over there. "I heard him tell my dad from the kitchen. I wondered if I'd have to work on my lying ability as a vampire or if it just came standard with the package. "In fact I better be off. We've got a lot to go over."

I rushed back into the room. I didn't think he meant he'd be taking off so soon. I wanted more time with him. Like forever.

"Well it was nice seeing you again Jasper." Charlie put his hand out and shook Jasper's hand as he stood.

"You to Charlie." I walked him to the door.

I stepped out and shut the door when I noticed Charlie leaning over in his chair watching us. "Why do you have to go so soon?" I snuggled into him wrapping my arms around his waist.

"Charlie wants to spend time with ya baby. And you know ya have things ya wanted to get done today. Ya won't get any of them done if I'm here." He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. "I'll be back as soon as ya get done with dinner and the Alpha leaves."

"Fine." I grumbled. "But you better be in my room when I get up there." I told him and stood on my tiptoes to kiss him.

We pulled apart and whispered our I love yous as I heard Charlie walking past the door towards the kitchen. He was as bad as Jake. Jasper walked away down the street at a human pace. I knew he'd be running vampire speed the minute he could manage it.

I went in and Charlie was making himself a sandwich. "So, Bells," he was gearing up for something, I could hear it in his voice. "You really like this guy huh?" not this!

"Yeah, he's great. Why you don't like him?" I didn't want to have this conversation. What was it about today? Everyone was just piling the uncomfortable on me!

"No, he seems like a nice enough boy." I had to hold back a laugh. Boy. Jasper was so much older than Charlie it was ridiculous. "I was just wondering, well you were staying at their house for almost an entire month, except for your once a week sleepovers here." Please don't ask me this. Please don't ask me this! "And I mean what I was wondering is um, how serious are the two of you? I mean are you going steady, or just casually dating, what's the deal?"

Okay that wasn't such a bad question. I'd assumed he was going somewhere else with it. "Oh, um, well, we're seeing each other. And by the way no one says going steady anymore." He looked at me with a hurry this up look. "We're exclusive though. I wouldn't exactly call it dating. He hasn't really asked me out on a date. Most of our time spent together is spent with his family."

"Okay, well um, have you two, you know?" Damnit why did he have to ask me this? I wasn't good at lying.

"Dad, do you really want to know about my sex life?" I asked staring at him.

He thought about it for a second before saying, "Oh god no! Please don't give me any details." He looked really uncomfortable now. Like he wished he'd never brought this up. "Just, are you two using protection?"

"Dad you really don't need to worry about that with Jasper. He's a perfect gentleman." There that wasn't a lie for the most part. He didn't have to worry about protection with Jasper. He couldn't get me pregnant or catch or pass along any diseases. And my sweet cow boy was a gentleman.

Charlie took that to mean we weren't sleeping together which was fine with me. "Good, I don't want to be a grandpa anytime soon."

I just chuckled at him, and began doing everything I needed to get done before dinner and Jasper got back. I washed a few loads of clothes, swept, vacuumed, mopped, and started dinner. Billy and Jake got there just as I was taking the fish out of the pan I made some fries and coleslaw with it. We sat in the living room watching TV and laughing. I'd missed this since I'd been at the Cullen house. I loved being there to but this was home. And seeing Charlie laugh after everything that had happened over the last month was good. I felt that familiar pang when I thought of how it would feel too loose Charlie once I was turned. I pushed it out of my head and enjoyed my time with them.

Edwards POV

I kicked the large tree truck sending the whole tree crashing to the ground. She smelled mated. I heart sank. She'd made love to him. Maybe I should just give up. Maybe they were all right. Maybe they were mates, and she and I weren't.

NO! Even if she wasn't my mate, she was still too good for him! He didn't deserve her. He'd done horrible things in his past. I would proceed as planned. I would get rid of him and if we weren't mates I would be her companion. I could make her so much happier than him.

I couldn't believe Alice hadn't seen my plan yet. She was so focused on whatever she was hiding from all of us, and she trusted me. I was her civilized big brother, her caring loving big brother. She wasn't watching my decisions. I wasn't capable of causing any real trouble in her eyes aside from the occasionally family argument.

That thought made me feel sort of bad. She trusted me. They all did. And I was planning something that would cost them a family member. They loved him even if he was a monster. No! Don't think of it. You're doing the right thing. You're doing this because it's the right thing for everyone.

Right? I continued kicking trees and rocks in my frustrations.

Jasper's POV

I'd circled back around and hung out in the tree outside her bedroom window until the Alpha arrived. Even though the danger was gone for now, I didn't want to leave her without protection. I was almost positive this hadn't been what Peter had expected us to protect her from.

I was a little surprised when she'd sounded so disgruntled about me not asking her out on a date. I hadn't even though to do it. I mean we'd been to the cabin twice but that wasn't really a date. I'd never been on a date. When I was human you didn't date. You courted young women, which consisted of spending time with them in the presence of their family. When I'd met Alice we'd immediately started making our way to the Cullens. We'd slept together and had gotten married just before we found them. But we'd never done anything that resembled a date. What did humans do on dates? Hmm I'd have to ask someone and make sure she got to have that experience. She'd told me she'd had one or two dates back in Phoenix, but she hadn't really enjoyed them. I'd have to figure out how to make her enjoy it.

Once the Alpha arrived, he spotted me and gave a little wave. I flitted away back to our land and hunted quickly after speaking with Esme and letting her know about my conversation about marriage with Bella. She was disappointed that we wouldn't be engaged sooner but she let it drop. I took down two deer and started to head back to her house, until I heard a tree crash to the forest floor somewhere nearby.

I moved in that direction. I stopped when I felt Edwards's emotional signature. The range on my gift was just a little wider range than his. He couldn't hear me from here but I could feel him. He was angry, resentful, vengeful, remorseful, smug, and a lot of doubt. Whatever was going on with him, whatever he was thinking he was having some serious second thoughts about it. I turned and left him to his destruction as he took out another tree. At least he was taking his frustrations out, out here instead of on the rest of us. If this was the worst he was going to do over Bella and I being together I was all for it.

Bella, her father, and the Blacks were having a good time when I got back. It sounded like they were wrapping things up. I perched in my tree and waited. I wouldn't go into her bedroom until the Alpha was safely gone. His emotions for my mate were so very near love it angered me. But she loved him like a brother and I would tolerate him, for her. I was sure he'd cause some trouble if heard me go into her room.

He and I had become awkward friends over the past month. We had a lot in common. He loved cars, he enjoyed spending time with my big little brother, and of course he very nearly loved my mate. We worked well together in battle. The only problem was his disapproval of my relationship with Bella. I wanted to kick his ass over interrupting us today in the truck.

That thought brought on a much happier one. When was the right time to ask her to marry me? I wanted to make sure the next time I asked she'd say yes. I knew she'd want to be graduated, and to make sure her father was taken care of. What else would she need? I'd have to really think about it. I already knew the perfect ring for her. She'd love it. I'd have to wait until my divorce was final as well. I'd talked to Jenks this morning. He assured me he'd have it wrapped up in the next few days and have the papers overnighted to me.

I heard the others leave finally. The alpha waved to me without even looking towards me. I had to smile. He was trying just as hard as I was, for her. I wished he'd imprint on someone already and move on from Bella as anything other than a friend.

I was waiting in her rocking chair after she cleaned up the kitchen and showered. She came in wrapped in a towel. "Ya know I think this is my favorite outfit to see ya in." I told her as she came over and sat in my lap.

"Well maybe I should only wear towels from now on." She laughed back at me. Being around the others and being able to be so light hearted without the looming danger had much improved her mood.

"I think your daddy would be a little upset about that darlin'." She laughed and agreed with me. "By the way I didn't know ya were so upset about me not havin' asked ya out on a date."

She blushed. "Eavesdropper." She accused me.

"I didn't think it was somethin' you'd be into." I wanted to make sure she really wanted it before I went through the trouble of asking her. I didn't want her upset if I asked.

"Well, it really wasn't my thing before. I've never been on a date that I enjoyed. But I think I'd enjoy it with you. And we didn't sort of have dates. We went to the cabin. But I didn't think Charlie should know about that." She snuggled into me.

"Go out with me on Friday." We could go out Friday night and then I could go hunt before all the kids arrived at the house for her party on Saturday.

"Rose said Alice ordered her to do my nails and toes Friday." She argued.

"She can do them before we go out. It won't take all night. Please?" I gave her the puppy dog eyes.

"Okay, where are we going?" she gave in quickly.

"I'll surprise you." I told her. She got ready for bed and I laid with her until she got up to get ready for school. I flitted back to the house to shower and change. Alice and Edward decided to take his car today. And I decided Rosalie and Emmett could either take one of theirs or ride with Edward, and I could take one of mine to pick Bella up for school. I figured Charlie should go ahead and see one of them so we wouldn't have to keep driving back to the house to switch cars all the time. I would have let Rose and Emmett right with us, but the charger was the only one with a back seat and Emmett was far too large to sit back there without being squished in.

I took the Camaro, she hadn't ridden in it or the Cobra yet and I thought Charlie would be more accepting of the Camaro. The cobra had no top and was a tiny two seater. He'd see it as a tiny death trap.

"Well that's a nice car." Charlie admired it. He was just leaving for work when I pulled up.

"Thank you Charlie." I smiled at him.

He was feeling a little worried. "You better be damn careful with my daughter in that thing!"

"Always Charlie, I would never do anything to hurt her or put her in harm's way." He seemed to believe me. He mumbled a goodbye and left.

Bella was excited to ride in the car, but upset that I told her she would have to wait to drive it until the next time we went to the cabin. I almost gave in though. I loved making her happy. I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life making her happy.

Bella's POV

The week flew by so quickly, too quickly. At school I discovered that Alice had invited the entire student body, except Lauren and the few girls in her little clique. I did me no good to argue with her about it. She got her way no matter what.

Charlie had taken off the entire week off. Jasper came over to do homework with me and stuck around until I started dinner. Then he would leave and Charlie and I would talk and laugh over dinner. Jasper would always be waiting in my room once I finished down stairs.

On Wednesday Charlie spent the day fishing with Billy and Harry. I met him there and went to hang with the pack. Jacob and I had a disagreement about him butting into my personal life.

He said he had no problems with the Cullens, really. But he didn't think I should be with one of them. He didn't like how serious I seemed to be getting with Jasper, despite his jokes about me ending up with a vampire when I'd come to see him that first day.

I told him to but out and I left in a huff. He left me several messages apologizing. I wasn't ready to forgive him yet. I would eventually but he needed to learn where to draw the line in our relationship. He would not tell me how to run my love life.

On Thursday, jasper had to go hunt before he met me in my room. While I waited for him I had an unexpected visitor.

I got up and went to my window when I heard the tapping just after I was dressed for bed. "What are you doing here?"

"Alice wanted these dropped off." Edward came through the window and held out a couple of shopping bags.

"Why didn't she just bring them herself?" I took them and peaked in. I smiled as I pulled a note from one of the bags. She'd provided me with a date outfit.

"She's hunting with Jasper right now, and then she said something about last minute arrangements for your party. I don't know I'm sorry I kind of tune her out when she goes into the party talk." I could understand. When she started talking about the party she tended to drone on and on. "She gets pretty obsessively preoccupied when she's planning an event." He laughed.

I was a little shock to hear that Alice and Jasper were hunting together. They'd gotten much better at being around each other and talking but I hadn't been aware that they were up to a quality time kind of stage. I felt the tiniest twinge of jealousy but I pushed it away quickly. He loved me, and she was my friend I trusted them.

Edward milled around in my room for a while. "Um thank you for this." I held the bag up so he'd know what I was talking about. I was still unsure of why he'd been the one to deliver it. Even if Alice wanted to hide the outfit from Jasper she could have sent Rosalie or Emmett.

"Yeah, sure not a problem." He pulled a small package out of his pocket. "Oh here this is from Emmett. He thought you might want to wear it tomorrow night or maybe for your birthday. He said he wasn't sure why but when he saw it; it made him think of you. He and Rose went into Seattle to pick up some things for Alice." he answered my unasked question.

I opened the box. it was a small platinum charm bracelet with an apple shaped charm, a little silver tulip, a queen chess piece and a pawn chess piece, there was a piece of silky red ribbon laced through the links on the chain. It was pretty. I loved it, even though I didn't understand the theme in the charms. I'd have to find him something fun to say thank you. Maybe a new bear, I was surprised he still had all of them. But he seemed to genuinely love them. He was such an odd vampire.

"Tell them both thank you please." He shook his head in agreement. He was still standing there. "Was there something else?"

"I was just bored. Can I hang out or a little bit?" I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but Jasper would be here soon I hoped.

"Okay." I sat cross-legged on the end of my bed pulling out the items Alice had sent.

He sat in the rocking chair pulling it close to the bed. "so, how have you been? "

"Um, I'm about the same as I was when I saw you at school today." I gave him a small smile. He was trying really hard for small talk.

He was quiet for a few minute. "It's really nice to see Japer and Alice getting along again." He said suddenly. "You know, just because it's been so stressed for a while. Them going hunting together is nice though, they haven't done that since just before you moved to town. I guess its something they liked doing as a couple."

I thought about that for a minute. He'd brought it up so suddenly. I had no doubt he'd brought it up just to try and drive a wedge. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" he looked confused.

"Did you come here just to try and cause problem? You knew what you just said would upset me. Why else would you have said it if you weren't trying to cause problem?" I was so angry at him now. I couldn't believe he thought I would be stupid enough to fall for this fake small talk shit.

"I don't understand what did I do?"

"Get out! "He had the gall to look shocked. "I mean it leave and don't come back to my house ever again. You haven't changed, and I knew it. You've just been biding your time until you thought you could throw a wrench into everything. Get! Out! Now!" he looked confused but left anyway.

I sat there fuming for a long time. Not just at Edward, at myself to. What he'd said was working. I was worried now. If hunting together had really been something they did as a couple, were they trying to mend things as a couple. Was he just using me until she wanted him back? He'd said he was divorcing her but I hadn't heard anything else about it. I had just assumed that he was taking care of it.

Stop this! He loves you. so does Alice, she just sent you an outfit to wear on a date with him why would she do that if she was trying to work things out with him. This was just Edward trying to cause problems. I had myself back under control when Jasper finally showed up. I didn't tell him about what Edward had said. I wasn't going to cause another argument. I'd taken care of it myself and everything was fine.

Jasper crawled into my bed with me. "I love you so much." He whispered as his hands roamed my body.

"I love you to," I smiled at him. I had nothing to worry about. "But unless you're planning on finishing this tonight stop teasing."

He laughed. "Well I suppose I can just wait until tomorrow. We wouldn't want Charlie to hear how loud you get." He chuckled.

"Do I really?" I giggled.

"Don't worry love, I think it's sexy." He kissed me breathless and I fell asleep wrapped in his arms, loving the warm feeling of love that flowed out of him and into me.

The next day Jasper convinced me to ditch school. The outfit Alice sent me was a dark green long sleeved hanky hem shirt with a heart shaped neckline, and a pair of khaki skinny jeans and a pair of dark brown ballet flats, I left my hair down and put on just a little bit of makeup and of course Emmett's bracelet. I like the outfit so far it was more like me than anything else she's put me in, she was getting good at this. Rose came over and did a quick mani and pedi before she headed to school with the others.

Jasper took me to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, I loved it. I hadn't been to a zoo since I was a little girl. I got a little kick out of the animal's reactions to Jasper. Almost every one of them sensed that he was a predator and would make noises at us. We spent the day holding hands and kissing while we walked around the Zoo. I laughed and reminded him of the night I'd hit him and Edward in the back of the head in my bedroom when we passed the Baboons. We passed a gorilla that looked a little like Emmett. And we took turns pointing out which pack members the zoo wolves looked like. We bought Emmett a giant stuffed teddy bear from the gift shop and then he took me to a small café for lunch and then back to Forks. As dates went it was pretty perfect.

On the car ride back Charlie called my phone. "Hi dad."

"Don't hi dad me! Where are you?" he was angry.

"I went to Woodland Park Zoo today." There was no use in lying. He'd be angry no matter where I went.

"You went all the way to Seattle alone!?" he yelled at me.

"No Jasper took me for my birthday." I kept my voice pleasant and calm, like nothing was wrong.

Charlie huffed. He was quiet for a few moments. "I'm not going to yell, I'm not going to punish you this time because it's your birthday tomorrow. But you could have told me you were taking off. I was worried about you when the school called me to let me know you didn't show up." well hell look at that Charlie could be reasonable.

"I'm sorry dad, I was afraid you'd tell me no because it was a school day." That was true.

He gave a small chuckle. "You'll be eighteen tomorrow Bella there won't be much I can do to you after that. Just let me know next time, so I don't worry. And don't start skipping so much you won't graduate."

"Not a problem dad." I really loved Charlie right now. He was so understand.

"I know you said you were going to stay at the Cullen's tonight so you'd be there for your party but I want to pick you up tomorrow and take you out for a birthday breakfast. I'll drop you back off after okay?" I wasn't going to tell him no after he'd been so great about today.

"Yeah dad it sounds good." We hung up and Jasper and I headed for the Cullen house. I'd wanted to go to the cabin but Jasper said Alice needed help with the party decorating and he was going to hunt again before he was forced into a house full of humans. They all would. They didn't really need it but it was just a precaution.

Alice wouldn't let me anywhere in the house but the kitchen and my room. She had them blocked off from the rest of the house with big white clothes so I couldn't catch a glimpse of the decorations. She wanted it all to be surprises. I just stayed in my room reading a book that Jasper had given me.

I was bored as hell. I couldn't figure out why Alice had insisted that I had to be here tonight if I was going to be by myself the whole time.

"Hey baby," Jasper was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed looking so damn yummy in his tee shirt, jeans, and boots.

"Hey." I smiled at him and bit my lip thinking of how wonderful it would be to get him out of his clothes again.

"Stop that you naughty girl." He smiled at me. "I came to bring you one of your birthday presents a little early. Emmett and Rosalie just got back with it."

I hopped up excited now. "Let's see it." he took my hand, kissed me lightly, and led me to the living room.

"Well hells bells little bit ya look all grown up all ready!" I flung myself across the room into Peter's arms.

"When did you get here? How come you haven't come to see me sooner? I missed you, you redneck ass! Where is charlotte?" I was talking a million miles an hour.

"Right here." I turned and she was right behind me. I threw my arms around her, happy tears streaming down my face. "We missed ya to baby don't cry."

I was so happy. This was the best present I could have ever gotten. I hadn't realized how much I'd really missed them until they were right here with me.

I hugged everyone and thanked them so much for my present. I noticed Edward kept creeping towards Charlotte every chance he got. He'd gotten to close once and she turned to him and growl. "Look here pretty boy I don't know ya well enough for you to come any closer without ya losing a limb." Edward slunk back and left her alone after that.

The three of us sat in Jasper's study and talked for hours. They wanted to know about everything that had happened since I'd talked to them last. I told them I was seeing Jasper now. I knew they'd already known, probably form Jasper, but this was my first time admitting it to them. We stayed in the study until I started to drift in and out a little.

Jasper came in and picked me up and tucked me in. he crawled into the bed on one side of me and Charlotte on my other side. I was pretty sure Peter was sitting in the high back chair next to the window. They all spoke softly as I drifted off into a peaceful dreamless sleep.

Jasper's POV

I had loved her reaction to Peter and Charlotte. It was so great to finally see how they all interacted. She was even more at ease with them than she was with the Cullens. She was happy with the Cullens but it she touched Peter and Charlotte more naturally. They were truly her family.

It was odd to see how natural it was for Peter and Charlotte to fall into a parental roll with Bella. They loved her. It wasn't that I thought they were heartless, but I'd fought next to Peter and Charlotte even though she didn't enjoy the training and fighting had been pretty ruthless when it came to her own survival. And now here they were being sweet and gentle to a human girl. My mate was a truly spectacular being to melt so many hearts to her will.

I wanted to pull charlotte aside and talk to her but I wanted Bella to have her time with her as well. I didn't want to distract from that. I also didn't want anyone else to overhear. I wanted it to be between Bella and I. I'd ask her later. Either way no matter what she said I was still going to present Bella with her presents tomorrow night and I would do my very best to spend the rest of eternity making her happy.

Even after threatening Edward to leave Bella and Charlotte be until later, he still kept trying to get her attention. I was going to laugh my ass off when he got to close and Charlotte killed him. She didn't like anyone but Peter touching her, well and now Bella.

When I went in to scoop Bella up and tuck her in Peter and Charlotte followed us, Charlotte crawling into the bed on the other side of my sweet angel. Peter took the chair I sat in sometimes to read while Bella slept or did her homework laying across the end of the bed.

"Do ya do this every night?" Charlotte asked with a smile once Bella was fast asleep.

"Yeah, she tosses and turns when I ain't next to her." I told her. I wanted to ask so badly but I couldn't find the courage.

"Do ya want to know or are ya goin' ta keep bein' a chicken shit?" I laughed Charlotte always did have a way with words.

"I would like to know." Edwards voice came from the door way and Bella groaned in her sleep, a little crease between her brows. I couldn't help but smile. She didn't even like him in her sleep. Why would he ever think they were mates?

Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him. "Why do ya want to know pretty boy."

"He believes Isabella to be his mate." Carlisle came up and stood next to Edward in the door way. "I was hoping you would be so kind as to put the matter to rest. It has caused a great strain on our family."

"God yes please do!" Emmett said from behind Edward and Carlisle. The entire family was there by now. "I'm tired of him being a mopey ass prick!"

"Shut up you idiot!" Edward snapped at him.

"You shut up douche bag!" Rosalie snapped back at Edward.

"My, my, my I can see what ya mean Carlisle." Charlotte pointed to Rose and winked. "I like you honey." Peter and Charlotte had only met the other Cullens other than Alice once, and it had been a brief meeting. "Well if ya'll want to hear get your asses in here." They filed in and stood around the room, Even Esme and Alice.

Charlotte took a long moment and stared at Edward then looked down at Bella. I knew she was just trying to drag it out to torture him just a little. "Sorry Eddy, but she ain't yours."

"You're lying for him!" Edward started towards the bed with his hands in fists.

Peter growled loudly and Bella snuggled more securely against me. "Shh, Peter don't wake the baby!" Charlotte snapped at him.

Emmett caught Edward by the arm but he managed to shake him off. Carlisle blocked his path. "Son, Charlotte is a guest in this house and you won't speak to her that way. Now you agreed to let this rest after Charlotte said her piece."

Edward looked like he wanted to argue but instead he flitted out and into the woods.

"What about Jasper?" Emmett asked bouncing around excitedly. "Do we really get to keep her forever or do we eventually have to give her back to the pet shop?" Charlotte laughed at him.

"I know ya all want to know, but I'd rather find out on my own and discuss it with Bella before we let everyone else know." They all understood but Emmett.

"Aw man! That's not fair I wanna know." He whined.

"Rosalie, would ya please do somethin' this that before he starts pouting like a baby." I asked her and she took him by the arm and led him upstairs I turned on the radio so they wouldn't wake Bella. Everyone else left to.

Peter went back to his chair, and Charlotte turned back to me. "So?"

"So what?" I asked her.

"Do ya want ta know or not little chicken?"

I was terrified. I'd never been so scared in all of my existence. "Yes," I told her in a voice that was so low I was afraid she wouldn't hear me.

She didn't speak. She just shook her head yes. I was grateful she'd stayed quiet so the others wouldn't over hear.

She said yes. Bella was my mate. I would be with her forever. She would be mine forever. I would spend the rest of my life making her happy. "Are you sure?" I had to make sure.

She leaned close to me and whispered even lower than I had. The others wouldn't be able to hear her over the music and Rosalie and Emmett's ridiculous sounds. "The two of ya are true soul mates Jasper. I've never seen a stronger bond than is between the two of ya. if I wasn't sure it was impossible without her bein' turned, I'd say you'd already marked her." she reached over and thumped me on the nose. "But how dare ya make love to her before she was turned! Ya could have hurt her! And don't try and deny it your scents are mingled on her."

I didn't care if she was mad at me. Nothing could bring me down right now. I'd found my mate. It was something that most vampires never get a chance to experience. It was something I had never thought I deserved after all the bad things I'd done in my life.

"Did ya know?" I asked Peter. "Is this why ya sent her here?"

"No sir Major. Ya know I don't work that way. I just knew she had ta be here. She'd find what she needed. and wasn't' lying when I said if she stayed in Phoenix that she'd die." He said with a big grin. "Watch that prick brother of yours Major I don't trust him." I didn't trust him either, but there was no way I could get the others to get rid of him until he really became a threat. They still trusted and loved him even though he was showing his true colors all over the place right now.

I settled down next to my mate and breathed in our scents on her. She was mine. I loved her so much. I couldn't be without her now. It would kill me.

Bella's POV

I stretch and rolled over, wrapping my arms around Jasper without opening my eyes. I kissed him and he wrapped his arms around me kissing me back. "Can we just skip the party and spend the day naked in the cabin." I asked when we pulled apart.

I opened my eyes in horror as I heard three different chuckles from behind me and someone clearing their throat. "Who's behind me?" I asked Jasper who was smiling from ear to ear.

Emmett's booming laugh sounded through the room. "Well I don't know about everyone else but I'm all for a naked birthday. We can just have the guests strip at the door."

I turned over to see Charlotte sitting in Peter's lap in Jasper's high back chair, Emmett was sitting on the floor with his back against my dresser and Rose leaning her back against his chest between his knees.

"Naked in a cabin ya say little bit?" Peter laughed.

"Bite me Peter, like I haven't heard you say something a million times kinkier to charlotte at some point!" I snapped at him in my embarrassment

"Like when?" he argued.

"How about the time I answered her phone and had to listen to you describe what you were going to do to her when you got home before you realized it was me? You want me to tell everyone about that." He clamped his mouth shut and lost the smile. "Yeah that's what I thought ya redneck!" he had said such filthy things, and something I didn't even know what they were.

"What'd he say?" Jasper and Emmett asked at the same time.

I had to smile. Peter looked at me with pleading eyes. "What are you all doing in here?" I asked ignoring their question.

"Hiding from Alice, She's turned from a party pixie to a party witch." Rosalie said with a smile.

"What are these doing here? They are supposed to be in the buffet area!" I heard Alice screech from the other room.

"Buffet area? What the hell is she doing in there?" I know she had started to go overboard but I hadn't realized she'd completely lost her mind.

"Just be happy we talked her out of pony rides." Emmett laughed. I started to laugh but Rose gave me a serious look letting me know that Emmett was serious. Oh damn.

"Aren't you happy you'll be with Charlie till it's time to get ready?" Rose smiled at me.

We all laughed and Alice came flitting in. "Bella Charlie will be here in forty-five minutes, Rose please go confirm the time again with the caterers, Emmett will you and Peter please go pick up the cake, Jasper I need you to help hang the lights out front." We all just started at her; she was talking so fast and barking orders. "Come on people if you value my sanity you'll move! Move! Move!" she flitted in and out of my closet laying clothes out for me, and then she was gone again.

"She really needs to get laid soon. She's getting to tense." Emmett laughs.

"Everything is sex with you isn't it?" I laughed at him.

"You're the one who wanted to spend your birthday naked in some cabin. By the way what sort of noises do you and Jasper make again?" He asked getting up from the floor.

"Out you pack of jackals, my baby needs to get dress for her daddy." Jasper ordered, not letting me and Emmett get into and another teasing match.

They all got up and went for the door chuckling. "Hey Em, call my phone." I smiled wickedly before they were all the way out of the room.

He took his cell out and rang my number. The room was filled with the sounds of Emmett moaning, groaning, and making noises like a dying animal. I turned the phone towards him and showed him the picture that came up when he called. It was him in full makeup form our first slumber party. He stared at it in horror. "Keep right on teasing me and I'll start forwarding this ringtone and picture to everyone." Everyone laughed and left the room.

Jasper stayed to help me dress and tease me a little then flitted off to do the party witch's bidding. The clothes Alice had laid out for me were more my style than anything else she'd gotten me so far, a light tan peasant blouse with dark brown trip and stitching, a pair of dark brown skinny jeans and my brown plaid chucks. She was getting so much better at this. Rose and Charlotte came in to do my hair and makeup.

"So, this thing with you and Jasper, is it serious or what?" Charlotte asked with a smile as she brushed my hair out into silky waves.

Wow I this was as uncomfortable as if Charlie or Renee had asked. "Um, I guess. I mean I think we are. Rosalie thinks we're mates. But I don't know."

"Do you want to be his mate?" she asked with a smile. Rose had stopped working on my makeup and was just staring at Charlotte with wide eyes and a smile.

I wanted to know what was going on with Rose but I'd ask her later, "Yes of course. I love him."

Charlotte smiled a dazzling wide smile at me, "Well I don't think you have to worry. I think you're mates to." Rose gave an excited squeal but pulled herself together quickly and finished my makeup.

"Bella your father is here." Esme called before I could question what was going on.

I thanked the girls and headed out after taking a quick check in the mirror. Rose had made me look like I was glowing a little somehow. When I was changed I wondered if I would have to get them to teach me all these nifty makeup tricks or if it just came standard with the package to.

What Charlotte had said to me hit me on my way to Charlie on the front porch. She though Jasper and I were mates to. So far every one I'd spoken to except Edward and Jacob had thought we were mates. Well Jacob hadn't really voiced an opinion on if we were mates but he didn't want me with a vampire any way. But they all thought we were mates. I was smiling a huge smile by the time I got to Charlie.

Alice and Rose were there with him telling him to have me back by four at the latest so they could gussy me up. "No problem girls." He told them. I thought it was funny how quickly the Cullen women had gotten Charlie wrapped around their fingers.

Jasper jogged up gave me a quick peck goodbye. Charlie didn't look happy about it but he didn't comment. "You look nice Bells." He told me as I climbed into his police cruiser that he drove everywhere.

I thanked him and we were off. He took me into Port Angeles. We went to a cute little dinner for breakfast which he said had been my mother's favorite place to eat when she was pregnant with me. I ate a big breakfast and we talked and laughed over funny moments from my childhood.

After we were done eating he took me to see a movie, some spoof that was wildly raunchy and inappropriate. I'd have to remember to bring Rose and Emmett back to watch it again it was hilarious. Then before we left to head back to Forks Charlie took me into a jewelry store.

"Hey Tim." He called to the man behind the counter. "Is my order ready?"

"Of course Charlie, here ya are." The man gave Charlie a small gold box. Charlie paid him and we left. Once we were in the car Charlie handed me the box. "Happy birthday Bella."

Inside the box was a pretty round silver locket with a small heart shaped white crystal stone on the front on a long silver chain. On one side in the inside was a picture of me Charlie and Renee on the day I was born. On the other was a picture of me and Charlie that I knew Jacob had clicked of us earlier this week when he and Billy had been over for dinner. On the back were the words, "Plus que ma propre vie".

"I love it dad, what does this mean?" I couldn't believe he'd gone through so much trouble.

"It's French for more than my own life." he took it from me and put it on me. "That's how much I love you Bella. More than my own life." I had to fight back tears. He'd put so much though into his gift.

I threw my arms around him. "Thanks dad. I love you to."

He cleared his throat. I knew he was desperate to move past eh emotional moment. "Here this is from you mom. She said she wanted you to take pictures of your party tonight and pictures of your friends to send back to her." he handed me

He handed me a very nice digital camera. "Well tell her when she calls you crying tonight that I said thanks." We both laughed. My mother called Charlie every year on my birthday and cried that their baby was growing up too fast. I'd wait and call her tomorrow. She'd want me to stay on the phone with her all night so she could experience the party with me if I called her tonight. She was an odd one my mother.

Charlie dropped me back off at the Cullen house a little before four. "Have fun Bells. But don't party to hard. I'll see you sometime tomorrow after you sleep it off." He laughed. You'd think we were planning on getting drunk the way he talked.

Alice, Charlotte, and Rose rushed me into my room the second I walked through the door. They were all already ready. Alice wore a pink strapless princess style dress that stopped at her knees and a pair of pink platform heels, her short pixie hair spiking out perfectly.

Rose wore a short flowing red spaghetti strapped dress with black roses across the bust and down one side and a pair of strappy black platform heels. Her long blonde hair looked like spun golden silk.

Charlotte wore a black, short, low cut, kimono style dress with white designs swirling over it, with her black cowboy boots. She never wore anything else but boots just like Peter. Her white blonde boy short hair was in its usual perfect style, Smooth, not a hair out of place.

There was no way I was going to look as good as them. They looked like three runway models.

They worked in frenzy, like we were running late or something. I argued over the dress they tried to put me in for several minutes. It was short. Very short.

"Bella it's your birthday live just a little." Charlotte told me. I was surprised she was siding with Alice about the dress but she was. I finally gave in. and when they were done with me I stared in mirror at myself. I was shocked. I wasn't sure I was looking at myself at first. I looked as good as they did.

The front of my hair was pulled back from my face in an intricate French braid that stopped and blended into the rest of my hair about half way back on my head, which looked like wavy chestnut silk. Rose had touched up my makeup adjusting the colors a bit to give me a bronze smoky eye, and a natural glossed lip. My entire face seemed to be glowing more than it had earlier. The dress was a short from fitting white silk slip that hit me about mid-thigh with a long sleeved lace overlay that was just barely longer than the slip. My shoes were brown fat baby boots with light blue designs around the top. I wore Emmett's bracelet and Charlie's necklace. I looked like a women worthy of my blond god like cowboy. I couldn't wait for him to see me. I couldn't wait to see him. I hoped very hard that he was planning to take me to the cabin after the party was over.

"Thank you guys so much." I said to them in awe. "For everything." For someone who didn't really care for birthdays mine was becoming a quick success. I used my camera to click pictures of each of them and then a group picture of all of them. Then they took pictures of me, and we sat it up on the dresser to take a group picture of all of us together.

"Okay let's go out to the others. I have an announcement before the guests arrive." Alice flitted away before we could ask her what she was going to announce.

Everyone was there. They all looked wonderful. Emmett was in a pair of loose fit jeans with a chain hanging from the belt loops, and a black button down shirt with red stitching and a tattoo looking rose on the left side of the chest, he had his sleeves rolled up half way up his massive forearms. He matches Rosalie perfectly.

Peter was in his normal. A plain black tee shirt tucked into boot cut jeans with his boots, and his white blonde hair looking just a little messy looking. Peter was just Peter he didn't dress up or change for anyone. I loved him that way.

Esme wore a knee length dark blue wrap dress with light blue trim. Her hair was in a loose bun and she wore her sensible mom heals that matched her dress. Carlisle matched her. He wore a pair of relaxed fit jeans and a dark blue sweater with light blue accents. They were to act as the chaperones for the party. Always the parents, they loved it.

Edward wore a pair of relaxed fit jeans with a white tee-shirt under a light blue button down shirt that he kept unbuttoned, his bronze hair in his trademark tousled look. He looked a little weird though. He always dressed so uptight and put together that seeing him in a pair of jeans with an unbuttoned shirt was strange. He looked like he was trying really hard to look relaxed. He looked good but I was still mad and suspicious of him.

Finally my sweet cowboy, he was wearing a grey modern western style shirt un-tucked with the sleeves rolled up like Emmett's. The shirt was a dark grey across his shoulders and faded down to a lighter grey the closer you got to the bottom. He wore a pair of dark boot cut relaxed fit jeans, and his black boots. His wavy blonde hair hung loose around his face. He was the most beautiful creature in the room. And he had eyes only for me.

I walked over to him and took his hand. The minute I touched him I could feel his desire and love for me. I bit my lip and then asked, "so what do you think how do I look?"

Every man in the room answered. "Beautiful." They all said in unison.

I laughed. "Well thank you. I was just asking Jasper but it's nice that you all approve. You all look very spiffy. " I chuckled.

I gave Jasper a quick kiss and Alice called us all to attention. "Okay everyone." She started. "You all know I've been seeing myself on a trip away from the rest of you at some point." I knew where this was going and I didn't want it to. "I'm going to have to leave tonight. I'm so sorry Bella but I'll have to leave before the end of your party. But I wanted to see you have a good time before I had to go." She hugged me and then stepped back and continued. "I don't want to leave any of you. You're my family and I love you, but I've seen my true mate. I have to go to him. "

I was so sad to see Alice have to go. But finding her mate was a good thing. I felt such sorrow, and anger, and regret, and jealousy. Wait! What? I jerked my hand from Jasper's and the feelings receded and were gone.

As the other's fired questions at Alice, who was he? Where was he? When would she be back? I just stared at Jasper with such hurt and anger. He regretted leaving her for me. He was jealous that she was going to be with someone else. The sorrow I'd felt had been so strong. He didn't really want me. How could he do this to me. I'd given him every part of myself. I wanted to join his family to be with him, which meant leaving behind Charlie, Renee, and Phil.

He looked at me confused at my sudden mood swing and reached for me. I moved away from him and stood closer to Charlotte and Peter, which put me closer to Edward as well. Edward put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

I didn't shake it off. He'd been right. He hadn't been trying to hurt me with his words he'd been trying to warn me. And now that I wasn't touching Jasper he'd be able to read him and know why I was upset. Jasper's mouth fell open and he just stared at me. I turned away from him. I couldn't stand to see that look on his face even though he was hurting me. I wanted to make it go away but I refused to comfort him while he was doing this to me.

I made a decision right then. He would not ruin my night. I would have a good time. The others had worked so hard to put all this together for me and I wouldn't ruin the night for them. So I ignored him.

No one else noticed our little drama. Alice was telling them she couldn't tell them what they wanted to know. Only that she'd been back as soon as she could. Everyone hugged her. We would all miss her. I couldn't bring myself to be mad at her. She'd done everything she could to help me win Jasper I just hadn't been enough for him.

Enough of that I scolded myself. Have fun! This is your night. Alice grabbed my hand and drug me to the front door as cars started pulling up. I was to greet people for a little while. Everyone the tiny pixie had invited had shown up.

Alice decorated everything in gold, silver and blue. There were lights and speakers everywhere. The dining room had several huge buffet tables set up that most of the pack was congregating around. She'd turned the main areas on each floor into different levels of a nightclub. All the bedrooms had been locked and roped off. The living room being the main dance floor. She'd somehow managed to find light up dance tiles to cover most of the massive floor area. Everyone was having a good time, but me.

I pasted a smile on my face and ignored my heart slowly crumbling in my chest. I didn't know where Jasper had gone but, I wouldn't let him see me break. I was stronger than this I could handle this. I was such a fool, I loved him.

Edward's POV

When I seen my moment I took it. She stepped away from him and I could read him. He was confused as to why she'd pulled away from him. So was I, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I'd put a comforting hand on her shoulder and she didn't shake me off. Yes! All my work was paying off! She saw me as a friend. If things stayed like this I would have to put my plan into action. I could just stay vigilant by her side and she'd eventually come to realize we were meant to be together.

I knew that little white trash vampire was lying when she said that Bella wasn't my mate. Jasper had told her to say it I just knew it. I kept a close eye on Jasper throughout the night. He stayed close to Bella without interacting with her. Just watching her.

I was overjoyed. She would be mine soon enough.

Jasper's POV

When Alice made her announcement I hadn't been shocked. She'd been hinting around that she might have to be leaving sooner than later.

I had been shock at how overwhelming every ones emotions would be at the news. They were so strong and all at once I couldn't pin point who was having which emotion. I tried to concentrate on Bella. Just her love and desire for me. She would chase all the others away. But her hand was suddenly gone and all I got from her was hurt. She stared at me shocked with tears welling up in her eyes. She blinked them away and stepped closer to Peter and Charlotte.

Edward was standing just behind them and the bastard reached up and put his hand on my mate. I wanted to rip his ass apart and burn the pieces. I swallowed my anger. It was hard but I managed. I didn't know what had just happened but I wouldn't ruin her birthday party for her. I would wait until later and then ask her to come to the cabin with me so I could give her, her presents and tell her we were mates.

I would just give her little space. Or as much space as I could handle giving her. I stayed on the outskirts of the party watching my beautiful mate laugh with her human friends. She was so beautiful. I wanted to take her out of here right now and ravage her. I wanted to watch her sweet face as ecstasy flowed over it.

I had to push those thoughts away. I seemed to be leaking and causing some of the humans around me to start to get a little handsy with each other. I want Edward watching her. he was feeling smug and triumphant. He thought he'd won, that she'd turned away from me.

Had she? I just didn't know what was going on.

Alice had turned the living room into a night club for all the kids. When Bella went in and began dancing with members of the pack, I got a little jealous. But she wasn't showing any of the preferential attention. She was just taking turns dancing with her friends.

I was happy when Peter began swinging her around the dance floor. She laughed happily. I wanted to be the one to make her laugh like that though. Then Emmett stepped in and she laughed as he tossed her up in the air and caught her.

Jacob stepped in and started dancing with her. She looked annoyed with him at first. I hadn't been aware they were on the outs. I listened in on their conversation as best I could with the booming music flowing through the house.

"Please don't be mad at me Bells." He pleaded with her as they swayed to some slow song I didn't recognize. "He's a great guy really and I shouldn't have tried to but in. I'll support you if he's your choice." God please let him be talking about me.

"I forgive you Jake." She said and rested her head on his chest. "And I think you might have been right. He's not right for me." there was such sadness in her voice. How the hell had she gone from loving me and smiling at me to feeling such sorrow when she spoke about me in less than a minute?

"Why what happen? Did he hurt you Bells?" Jacob had stopped dancing and was looking down at her.

"Not physically. He still wants her though. He didn't really want me." I started to swoop in and steal her away. How could she ever thing that. Why would she think I wanted Alice back? I was happy for her that she'd found her mate. I was thrilled for her in fact. It meant our whole family would be mated. Well except for the douche bag who was sweeping in faster than me to claim my mates hand for another dance.

Edward took her hand and Jacob let her go and made a beeline straight for me. "What the hell is wrong with you man? I thought you cared for her! Why would you hurt her that way?" he shoved me.

I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him outside on the first floor deck so no one could hear us. "Ya listen here ya overgrown puppy, don't ya ever put your damn hands on me again when you don't know the whole story. I do care about her! I love her! She's my true mate!"

Jacob's eyes got huge at my admittance. "Then why the hell does she think you want your wife back?" he grumbled at me. I could feel his hurt. He'd hoped I would screw things up and he could swoop in and be her knight in shining armor. But he was quickly accepting my statement. He knew mates were much like their imprints. You just didn't fuck with a bond like that.

"I have no idea. Everything was fine one minute and then the next she was pulling away from me. What the hell do I do?" I wasn't sure if I was asking him or just voicing my frustrations but he answered.

He looked over at the window and said. "You get your ass in there and get her out of that assholes arms and you do everything you can to show her how much you love her. If you don't her stubbornness will set in and you'll never get back in with her."

I looked where he was looking. Edward was spinning her around. They were both smiling, hers didn't reach her eyes, but she was still having a good time with him. I saw red for a minute until I decided what to do.

I walked back into the house and as Edward spun her away from him I caught her around the waist. She froze. She didn't push me away though. I began moving with her around the dance floor. Edward started to come after us but Emmett and Jacob blocking his path.

A slow song with a good beat came on and I began moving our bodies together to the beat. I pulled her as close as I could possibly get her and pushed every ounce of love I had for her at her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and moved with me.

Bella's POV

I didn't really want to dance with Edward, but I'd danced with most everyone else, why not him. He was a good dancer. We didn't talk; I just smiled at him when he smiled at me. He would spin me away from him and then back to him.

The last time he spun me out I lost my grip on his hand and thought I was going to fall, but someone caught me. I was staring at a grey clad chest. When he touched me I could feel his love. I couldn't pull away from him. I loved him to. It hurt so though he still wanted her he did truly love me. I could feel it.

I wondered for minute if this was going to be our last night together. If it was I would make the best of what little time I had. I didn't know why but I just couldn't bring myself to not make it count. I was going to hurt so bad when he left me.

I danced with him. He was such a good dancer. His body moved against mine like it was trying to seduce me. And it was doing a good job.

"You're breath taking tonight darlin'." He said leaning down to kiss me.

I kissed him back at first. No! I couldn't do it. If he was going to leave he needed to just do it. If I spent this night with him and he left me in the morning it would kill me. I wanted forever with him. One more night wasn't enough. I had to end it now. I wouldn't be someone second choice I deserved better. I deserved someone who didn't have to split his feelings with me and his ex that he couldn't have anymore.

I pulled away from him and fled the room. I ran around the outside deck until I was just outside of my bedroom window. I cried.

"Darlin' what's wrong? Please tell me." he tried to wrap his arms around me.

I pushed at him. How could he be so cruel? Why would he pretend he didn't know what was going on. How could everyone have been wrong about us being mates? I wanted to leave and never come back. The thought caused a sharp pain in my chest.

"Baby please talk to me." he pleaded with me it sounded like a sob. "I love you so much."

I wanted him so badly. Why couldn't he want me and just me? "No." I sobbed, tears ruining my makeup. "Leave me alone." There was no feeling in the words. I didn't really want him to go. I wanted him to love me. I wanted him to be my mate.

Suddenly we weren't alone any more.

Jasper's POV

I hadn't felt him coming. I was so focused on my poor Bella and her broken heart that he'd completely surprised me.

Edward stepped up beside us and shoved me back away from Bella. "She said leave her alone!" he growled at me.

The little prick. He had no business stepping between me and my mate. I bared my teeth at him and he shoved Bella back behind him hard. She stumbled and caught herself on the side of the house. I smelled the blood immediately where she cut her hand on a loose piece of siding. He'd hurt my mate! He'd caused her to bleed.

I roared at him and my instincts took over. I had to protect her. He had to die. I charged him taking him by surprise and we tumbled back through Bella's bedroom window. I was on top of him beating him in the face when someone pulled me off of the bastard and tossed me away.

Everyone was there. The pack was keeping the humans back so they couldn't see what had happened. Edward lay on the ground in a pile of shattered glass, the cracks to his face already healing. Emmett was standing in a protective stance in front of Carlisle, Esme, and Rosalie. They were kneeling down around something.

My nostrils flared, I could smell more blood. I hurried forward but Emmett stopped me. Peter came up behind me wrapping his arms around me, keeping me from moving any further forward. "I'm fine!" I yelled at him. "I'm not going to hurt her I just need to see that she's okay"

He let go of me and he and Emmett hovered over me as I stepped closer. My mate, My Bella was sitting in a pile of broken glass. Her pretty dress was ruined. She was bleeding from her arm, her shoulder, a gash in her forehead, and several cuts on her legs. The white dress was covered in blood.

I could tell the others had stopped breathing so they could help her. Charlotte had fled afraid she couldn't control herself. I bent down beside Rose and reached forward to pick Bella up out of the glass and she jerked back away from me, her eyes wide and fear pouring out of her.

I felt the others then as well. They were all angry. They blamed me for this. They thought I attacked my mate. They thought I'd hurt her. I had hurt her. I was so consumed with vengeance on Edward that I hadn't made sure she was safe and out of harm's way.

Edward was smug. "I knew you wouldn't be able to control your blood lust with her." he spat at me.

No! That's not what happened. But I could feel the others. They believed that was what had happened. Even if it wasn't what had happened I'd hurt her. And now she was scared of me. On top of whatever was already going on with her she would never forgive me now.

I searched for her feelings. For her love to chase my doubts away. But the only think I felt as I looked in to her wide chocolate eyes was fear, and hurt. It was too much. I couldn't take that from her as well. She'd thought I was attacking her not Edward.

I fled. I had to get away from that look in her eyes. From their blame. From her sadness. My chest began to ache, the further away I got. I deserved this. I was a monster. Thank god she was human. She wouldn't feel the pull like I was. I fled and tried so hard not to look back. I closed my eyes trying to get her hurt shocked face out of my mind. But it was all I could see.

Chapter 18

I hope you all enjoy and I've got a new beta for the time being.

Thank you so much Xo BellaItalia oX for helping me out.

Jasper doesn't know that Bella can feel his feelings like he can feel everyone else's at this point. Bella doesn't know that Charlotte can tell if a couple is mates.

I'm working on the next chapter as fast as I can.

Please comment and review to let me know how you all like this one.


	19. Chapter 20

I own nothing all for funzies.

Chapter 19

Bella's POV

I sat there on the floor covered in glass and blood. Every part of my body was in pain. I had been about to reach forward and grab Jasper, to beg him not to go, to beg him to explain to me why he'd gotten so upset about Alice leaving.

I just couldn't stand that look in his eyes. I wanted to make him stop hurting. I was confused and angry and hurt, but I couldn't resist him a second longer. I loved him I wanted him to be my mate.

Edward was just suddenly there he shoved Jasper away and he pushed me back behind him. I fell against the house and cut my hand on a piece of loose siding. I had just enough time to straighten and look up to see Jasper leaping on to Edward.

They both hit me hard, and then we fell through the window. I was almost sure I could feel every tiny piece of glass slice into my flesh. They rolled off of me and Jasper was on top of Edward hitting him repeatedly. I sat there in a pained shocked stupor.

I didn't understand what was happening. My brain wouldn't function right. I registered that there were people around me, no not people vampires. I was bleeding and surrounded by vampires. But my brain still wasn't working right. All I could do was sit there in silence and try not to let any more glass dig into my skin. Someone touched my arm and asked if I was okay.

What a dumb question I though. Why would someone ask me that when I was sitting in glass bleeding from I don't know how many wounds? I wanted to get up. I needed to get up and get away. I needed to get away until I could stop the bleeding, but my body wouldn't move. I didn't register any of the faces around me.

Suddenly Jasper's face came into view. Oh no! I didn't want him to get to close and lose control. He would never forgive himself he hurt me. When he reached for me I flinched back. I wanted to tell him that he should stay back; I didn't want him to be uncomfortable. That I feared for him. He looked hurt, he looked confused. I wanted to touch him to find out what he was really feeling so I'd know how to proceed but I couldn't risk it.

He stood suddenly, backing away from me. I wanted to tell him to stop to explain to him. But my mouth just wouldn't cooperate. Then he ran. He ran away from me. It was probably best just for now. I could get cleaned up and then I could talk to him. If I ever found my freaking voice!

"Bella, I'm going to pick you up and take you to my office." I knew that voice whose voice was that. I turned to see Carlisle's beautiful face very close to mine. "Are you ready?" I managed to shake my head yes.

I winced. Even that small movement hurt. Carlisle slid an arm under my legs and the other around my back and lifted. I couldn't hold it in I cried out. Every part of my body throbbed in pain.

"Esme, please go tell the party goers that the party is over. Someone has been hurt and we'll need to take them to the hospital. I'm going to take Bella into my study and get to work on her." he flitted into his office and in a quiet voice asked Emmett to come help him.

They transferred me into Emmett's arms and my teeth began to chatter at the pain, like I was cold. "I just need you to hold her while I remove the glass and clean the wounds."

Emmett gave him a quick nod and Carlisle set to work at lightning speed. I whimpered several times. Carlisle gave me a shot and some of the pain began to ease.

"It's okay Bells I got you. It'll be over soon." Emmett kept promising me.

I began to feel another pain now, in the center of my chest. It was like there was something pulling on my chest, trying to rip my heart out. I had the urge to wrap my arms around my chest to hold it in but little sharp pains seeped through the pain killer Carlisle had given me if I tried to move.

"We'll need to remove the dress so I can get the rest." Carlisle said.

"Rose!" Emmett yelled in a suddenly panicked voice.

"What?" she was in the doorway.

"Carlisle wants to take her clothes off, I'm, I'm not comfortable doing that." he stammered.

"Ch-chicken shit!" I stuttered through my still chattering teeth. I was starting to feel a little more like myself. I was in pain but I was able to think now.

"That may be jelly belly, I think you and Rose might both get mad if you caught me ogling your cute little ass." He chuckled. He was trying to make me feel better.

"I'll get Esme. " Rose said. "I'm sorry Bella but I just don't think I can handle being in the room right now." Was it the blood or was she mad at me?

She flitted away and Esme came in. Emmett helped me to stand and Esme took my arm to steady me. Emmett fled closing the door behind him. Carlisle cut the lace overlay off from the back with a pair of scissors. He was afraid if I tried to lift my arms that the biggest cuts on them would start to bleed again. He unclasped my necklace and my bracelet and laid them on his desk then he bent and slid my boots off. Tiny pieces of glass fell away from my feet but I had no cuts on them. He cut the white silk slip off and I began to sob as I stood there in just my bra and panties.

Alice had picked me out the perfect dress and I'd ruined it. I'd ruined everything. "Where is Alice?" I asked in a sad little voice.

"She's already gone honey." Esme told me. "She left while you were still dancing with Jacob." Well at least she hadn't been there to see me shatter all her hard work.

"Where are Peter and Charlotte?" I couldn't believe they weren't here trying to help me. I had a vague image of Peter with his arms around Jasper but I couldn't figure out why or if the image was even real. I was having more and more trouble remembering what had happened.

"Charlotte was afraid she'd be unable to control herself around so much blood. She and Peter went after Jasper." Carlisle said as the dug a large piece of glass from my shoulder.

Why did they go after Jasper? The pain in my chest shot though me again. "Where did he go?"

Esme had a devastatingly sad expression on her face. "We don't know dear. He just ran." She let out a dry sob. "He seemed to be very upset that he'd hurt you. I'm so sorry that he lost control with you."

I stared at her with wide eyes. Did he attack me? No I was sure I would remember that. I tried to remember exactly what had happened but whatever Carlisle had given me was starting to kick in full force now and I couldn't think straight again.

Carlisle was done pulling all the glass. I didn't have any large cuts on the back of me, so Esme helped me to sit on the edge of Carlisle's desk as he began stitching me up. I couldn't do anything but stare off into space feeling numb all over except for the ache in my chest.

When Carlisle was finally done Esme got me a long sundress from my closet and helped me to step into it so I wouldn't have to raise my arms. Rose and Emmett came back in and led me into the guest room next to mine and jaspers room.

"Do you want us to sit with you Bells?" Emmett asked as he lifted me into the bed and covered me up.

I didn't even know what he'd asked. I just shook my head no. they left me there. I laid there for I don't know how long for my brain to begin to function again, feeling nothing but the pain in my chest that seemed to get worse every second.

This isn't my bed. Was the first thought I had. I sat up and slid from the bed, keeping my arms pinned to my chest to hold myself together. I shuffled out to the next door.

It was wrong.

There were big wooden panels over a large portion of the window.

It was wrong.

What was wrong with the room? Something was missing. What was missing?

I walked to the left side of the bed and picked up an old worn brown cowboy hat.

Jasper.

A pain hit my chest so hard that it took my breath away for a moment and I dropped the hat. It fell to the ground and slid under the bed.

The room was wrong without him. It was cold, and empty despite all the furniture and our belongings. I wanted out of here. I had to get away from the room.

I walked out, down the hall into the living room. There was no one there.

It was wrong.

The living room was just as empty. I had to get out of the house. I stepped out and the cold air hit my body making me shiver. My head cleared for a moment. And I went for my truck. The keys were already in the ignition. I climbed in awkwardly, trying my best to keep one arm across my chest, and trying not to pull out any of the stitches.

I started the truck and sped as quickly as I could to Charlie's. I swerved on the road several times and hit a ditch once. When I got out of my truck I was a little confused at first.

Charlie came out and found me standing next to my truck in the sun dress. "Bella! Are you okay!? What happened to you?" he reached into my truck and shut it off. Did I forget to do that?

I heard tires squeal and looked over to see a shiny red car coming to a stop in front of the house. "Bella, thank god!" Rosalie got out and ran up to us. I was pretty sure she could go faster than that. Why was she going so slowly? "We looked everywhere for you!"

"What happened?" Charlie yelled at her.

"She fell through one of the windows at the house." she told him looking at me worried. She was probably wondering if I could comprehend that she was telling him the official cover story. I thought in a slight moment of clarity.

"I fell." I slurred.

"What's wrong with her were you guys drinking?" he narrowed his eyes at Rosalie.

"Of course not Charlie, my dad gave her a shot for pain while he stitched her up. We were going to call you but Bella didn't want you to worry." Yeah that sounded like me. Didn't it? My name was Bella right?

"Then why did you let her drive home like this?" he demanded still angry.

"We didn't. I put her to bed in the spare bedroom and when I came back to check on her she was gone. We looked everywhere for her before we realized her truck was gone." She snapped at Charlie.

I didn't like that. She shouldn't be angry. I was the one hurt. I was the one who was alone. Where had that thought come from? The pain hit me again. I pulled both arms to my chest as they continued to talk about me like I wasn't standing there.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" I yelled at them. "And you don't yell at my father! Leave now!" I screamed in Rosalie's face. I hadn't even realized what I was doing until the hurt expression crossed her face and she turned and left.

"Come on Bells let's get you in before you get sick."

I jerked away from him and shuffled into the house. I didn't want his help. I could manage on my own. I wasn't a child. Oh god I was so alone. The pain hit again and I stumbled on the stairs.

I got to my room and slammed the door shut. I collapsed on the bed and sobbed. The pain continued. I continued to sob. When Charlie came in to check on me I screamed at him to leave me alone. He finally went to his own room and left me to my misery, which I didn't even understand.

I wanted to fall asleep. I wanted it to go away. I wanted Jasper. The pain again, I laid there and sobbed. I cried until there was nothing else to cry. I laid there staring at the ceiling. I couldn't sleep. I needed his strong arms around me.

I wrapped my own around me again and tried to hold myself together.

Jasper's POV

My chest ached. My heart was being pulled in her direction as my body moved further away. I staggered and stopped for a moment. I started up at the night sky. All I could see was her face. I let out a sob and dropped to my knees.

Think of something else. Anything else! I commanded myself. But there was nothing. I buried my face in my hands and continued to dry sob. There was nothing else that existed but my Bella. Shift it. I commanded myself. If I could think of nothing but her I would think of other times with her.

The day in the gym, when I'd told her my story. She'd cried for me. She felt tenderness for me. The pain in my chest ached harder. I wrapped my arms around myself trying to hold myself together.

Helping her take her boots off, running my fingers over her calves. Her sweet soft skin, taking her to the cabin, her lips on mine, the way she tasted when I kissed her, her body beneath mine. The love she felt for me. The way her doe eyes sparkled when she looked at me. My heart felt like it was trying claw its way out and return to her.

I sobbed again. It wasn't working. Another pain wracked through my chest and I threw my head back and roared. I got up and ran. I kept going until I reached Seattle. I began to stagger as my sorrow grew. I don't know for how long. But when I came across a freight train station I crawled into one of the cars and lay down behind a stack of crates. I laid there staring at the ceiling.

I wanted to wrap my arms around her. I wanted to feel her body lying against mine, to watch her sleep, to watch the cute flush come to her cheeks when Emmett teased her.

Please god just let me be numb. Let it not hurt anymore. I sobbed again. I loved her so much. Another pain surged through me as the train began to move and I was pulled further away from her. I didn't care where I was going. I just had to get away from her. I couldn't hurt her anymore.

God please just let me die. I begged.

Peter's POV

"Peter we have to go back and tell Bella what we're doing!" Charlotte snapped at me.

"If we don't stay on his trail we'll lose him!" I snapped back at her. "Bella will call us." I was sure of it. I wished like hell this damn gift were more specific. I would have been able to see what that little prick was going to do. I could have warned Jasper better.

My poor little bit. She was going to have a rough time of it until we got back but if we couldn't get to Jasper he was going to do something stupid and we'd lose him and her. She'd never be able to survive without him permanently. Why the fuck didn't that damn pixie see this? I hated that little bitch so much. She'd convince Jasper that they were supposed to be together even though Charlotte said they weren't mates.

"Change the outgoing on our phones so if we miss the call she'll know what's going on." I told my mate. She did as I asked.

"Peter I can't smell him anymore!" Charlotte grumbled once we reached Seattle.

I looked around what would the Major do? Where would he go? He would get into a car and drive away so we'd lose his scent. No, that didn't feel right, it's what he would do, but he wasn't in the right frame of mind.

I searched around and spotted a freight train station. "That way!" I told her and we jumped on the last car as a train left the station. I wasn't sure if we were going the right way but it felt right.

We had to find him. I wasn't sure what he'd do but it wouldn't be good. And my poor little bit was suffering at his loss I just knew it.

Edward's POV

I can't believe I'd done it! He was gone.

Why didn't I feel triumphant though? I'd won the first battle. Now all I had to do was wait, take care of her and she'd be mine.

But she'd been hurt. I hadn't meant for her to do anything but cut her hand. I felt so horrible over it. And the shattered frightened look on her face. It was heart wrenching.

And my family as well, they were all in pain right along with her. Rosalie had returned from Bella's in such distress. Bella had yelled at her. Emmett was distraught over Rose and Bella. Esme was dry sobbing. Her family was falling apart.

I could see Bella through Rosalie's eyes. She'd looked so confused, and angry, and hurt. She was covered in wounds. A large stitched cut on her forehead, on her shoulder, on her left arm, and numerous smaller cuts and scrapes. Her hair was disheveled. Her poor body was wrecked, and she looked so lost.

I could make this up to her. To them. I could make sure she never felt pain again. I could make her happy.

Couldn't I? God why did this feel so bad?

I would go to her tomorrow. I would talk with her and try to start making up for all the pain.

Oh god what had I done?

Chapter 19

I would say I hope you enjoyed this chapter but I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up just a little writing it.

Just a small disclaimer, there will be a little more darkness before it gets any better.

Please feel free to comment and review.


	20. Chapter 21

I own nothing, it's all for funzies.

Chapter 20

I'm not sure if I ever fell asleep but I think I drifted out of consciousness for a little while. When I drifted back in I was laying in my room at Charlie's. I was in pain everywhere. I sat up stiffly.

The pain in my chest wracked through me, and I let out a small cry. I wrapped my arms around my chest and wondered if maybe Carlisle had missed a big piece of glass in my chest or something. I went to the bathroom and took some ibuprofen. It wouldn't really do much for this amount of pain but I had nothing else.

I turned and looked in the mirror. I looked like crap. My hair stuck out all over my head. I was covered in band aids, gauze pads and stitches. My lip was split, and I had dark circles under my eyes. My makeup was smeared across my face. I got a rag and cleaned my face first then as carefully as I could I brushed my hair and managed to get it into a messy ponytail. I brushed my teeth to get whatever the funky taste was in my mouth out. I removed the gauze pads.

There I didn't look so bad now, for Frankenstein's monster. I was stitched across my forehead, across my shoulder, down my left arm. I slipped the dress off to examine the rest of me. I was covered in more cuts and so many bruises. I had stitches across my right thigh.

I stared at myself. What had happened? Everything was fuzzy. I knew that I'd fell into the window with Edward and Jasper. But I couldn't figure out how we'd gotten to that point. I closed my eyes and pictured the whole night. It was still a little fuzzy around the edges. Alice left. Jasper wanted her. I cried. Jasper tried to comfort me. Edward came. I cut my hand. Jasper attacked Edward. We fell. Jasper ran.

Why wasn't he back yet? Why wasn't he here holding me when I got up? I felt a tight uncomfortable knot growing in my stomach and my chest tugged again. I sank to the floor of the bathroom and began to sob. My father knocked on the door once and asked if I was okay, I screeched at him to go away.

I hadn't meant to yell at him. But I didn't want him to see me this way. He didn't have to suffer with me. He knocked again a few minutes later to let me know he had to run to the station for an hour or so. I clamped my mouth shut so I wouldn't yell at him again. I heard the front door close and I began to sob again.

Where was Jasper, why wasn't he here? Why hadn't he come back for me? I remembered how I'd told him to leave me alone, how I'd pushed him away. I hadn't even given him a chance to explain to me what was going on with him. I just jumped to conclusions and I pushed him away. He left. He left me. I cried harder, I had no idea how much time had passed, but I was still on the floor crying when a pair of cold arms picked me up and carried me into my room.

Edward's POV

What have I done? How could I do this? I sat outside Bella's room on the tree limb watching her. I'd intended to wait until morning to come over, but I couldn't take being at the house any more.

Rosalie was so upset about how bad Bella had looked last night, and the way she'd yelled at. She loved Bella like a sister and she just wanted to care for her, but she'd screamed for Rose to leave. I just kept trying to shake the lost look in Bella's eyes out of my head, but it was all Rose could see, and I saw it through her.

Emmett was beside himself, he was conflicted. He wanted to comfort his poor wife, but he wanted to go make sure his little sister was okay. He'd helped Carlisle with Bella for as long as he could handle it. She'd been in such pain. He just kept seeing her tiny broken body.

Esme continued to sob in her room over the loss of her children and Bella's injuries. She feared Bella would never return, to afraid that they'd hurt her again. She was so afraid she'd already lost her new daughter. I saw Bella standing in her bra and panties sobbing, her body covered in bruises and cuts. Of all the ways I'd imagined seeing Bella in less clothing, that had not been the way I'd wanted it.

My father sat in his study. Staring out his window in pain for his family. He had no idea where to even start to mend everything. He'd lost two children and had been so afraid he'd lose a third when he'd seen her sitting covered in blood in a pile of glass.

Over and over again I kept seeing her face through their eyes in so many states of pain. I had to get out of there. The guilt was starting to eat at me.

Now I watched her through her bedroom window. She sobbed until she couldn't sob anymore. She just laid there after that, for hours staring at the ceiling. She didn't move, she didn't sleep, she just laid there. I worried for a moment that her heart had stop and she'd slipped into death with me sitting there watching her. But I could see her chest moving up and down. She was still breathing.

My entire body was wracked with guilt. I sagged in the tree and watched her. I'd done this. I'd hurt her. I'd hurt my family. I thought about Jasper.

He'd been my brother for so many years. We didn't really like each other, but until this little human had come into our lives we'd still been family. I would have fought at his side; he would have fought at mine.

I didn't blame her for the rift between us now. I blamed myself. She'd made her feelings for me and Jasper very clear, I'd just been too stupid, and selfish to listen.

She began to stir, just as the sun was rising. I watched the pain cross her face as she sat up stiffly. Then she let out a small cry and she wrapped her arms across her chest. She squeezed her arms to her like she was trying to hold herself together.

I stared at her in shock. I knew that, I'd seen that before. Rosalie had been that way after she and Emmett had gotten together. Rosalie was having trouble being able to be intimate with Emmett at first. The way she'd been hurt before she was turned had left so many scares on her soul. She would lock herself away in shame that she couldn't give herself to her mate. Emmett would go hunting when she did this. He couldn't stand to be so near to her while she was so upset and not be able to anything to comfort her. She would wrap her arms around her chest trying to hold her chest together. It was the mating pull. Bella was feeling the mating pull like she was a vampire.

She was Jasper's. She was my brother's mate. She was family. And I'd hurt her so horribly. Jasper would be in the same pain as well, probably worse than Bella since he was a vampire.

I didn't know what to do now. Bella got up still wearing the loose sundress Esme had put her in so it wouldn't irritate her wounds. She shuffled out of the room and in to her bathroom. I couldn't see her any more but I could still hear her. She moved around for a few minute before everything became quiet and then I heard her start to sob.

Her father came to check on her and she screamed at him. She was inconsolable. He let her be until he got a call from the station. They needed him to come in; one of the deputies didn't show up for work. He went back to the door and knocked again. This time she didn't answer. He told he had to go into work. He waited for a response. When none came he let her be again and left.

When the sobs began again I couldn't take it anymore. I went in and opened the bathroom door. She was laying crumple in the floor wearing her panties and bra, the dress underneath her. She didn't even seem to realize I was there.

I bent and picked up her broken body carefully, I carried her to her room and laid her back down in her bed. I gently tucked the covers in around her.

"I'm so sorry Bella. This was all my fault." She stared at me.

"You did this to me." she accused me.

"Yes I did." I wouldn't deny it. I'd done this and I'd take the consequences.

She seemed to snap out of the depression with a vengeance. "Why the hell did you do this? I'm not stupid! You came over the other night just to put that doubt in my head! You made me not trust him! He left! "She shot up out of the bed and winced at the pain of moving so fast.

"Calm down, don't hurt yourself again. Please Bella!" I pleaded with her. I didn't mean to make her so upset again. "I'm going to fix it I swear! I'll find him I'll bring him back to you." I wrapped my arms around her. She pushed against me trying to get away. "Bella please, you're going to hurt yourself again."

She sagged against me with a sob. "Why did you do this?"

How did I tell her what my selfish motivations were? "I was stupid and selfish. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. Well I mean, I did sort of know you'd hurt your hand. But that was it I swear! Everything else was just dumb luck. I didn't ever really know how I was going to get you to cut yourself until the two of you were out there arguing."

"You planned this whole thing!?" she stared up and me with huge eyes.

"No! I mean yes! No I mean not all of it! I was contemplating giving up on my plan when you didn't seem to fall for my planting the doubt in your mind about Alice and Jasper. But then the two of you were arguing at the party and I thought it had worked. And I thought I had a chance! But then he came up and you two started dancing, and I could see that you were hurting but you were giving in and you were going to forgive him for whatever you were angry about. And then you guys were fighting and I took my freaking chance I shoved you back so you'd cut yourself, I was hoping he'd lose control and I'd be there to stop him and you'd be mad at him and grateful to me and you'd see how much you really cared about me! If I'd have really thought and realized that the two of you were really true mates I wouldn't have done this, I think. And oh my god why didn't I realize before this moment that this whole things sounds completely insane?" why had I really not ever realized how insane and childish this whole thing really was?

I suddenly felt like a stupid teenage kid. I'd made so many immature stupid decisions over this whole thing. She continued to stare at me in horror at my insane ranting confession.

She let out a nervous sounding giggle, and then she grabbed the front of my shirt and growled into my face. "You better fucking fix this mess or I'm going to wait until you least suspect it and I'm going to douse you with gasoline and set your sparkly ass on fire!" well there we go she sounded more like her old self again. "Get your arrogant ass out of my house find my mate and bring him back here now!"

"Yes mam. Just let me call someone to take you to see Carlisle because you seem to have pulled your stitches on your shoulder loose." I stopped breathing and flitted to the bathroom to get her something to stop the bleeding.

Bella didn't seem to care she just kept staring daggers into me. I pulled my phone out and dialed Rose's number "What!" she yelled at me when she answered.

"I need someone to come get Bella."

"Why what's wrong? is she hurt again? Did you hurt her?" she rapid fired questions off at me.

"I need to go help the others find Jasper. She's feeling the mating pull, it's pretty bad." at my words Bella's arms came jump wrapping themselves around her chest again and a look of sorrow passed over her face.

Less than ten minutes later Rose was there screeching to a halt in front of Bella's house. I had Bella sitting in the chair in her room and I went out to meet Rose.

"What the hell do you mean she's feeling the pull? She shouldn't be feeling anything but maybe a little sadness." She asked as I opened the front door.

"It's bad Rose, we've got to get Jasper back here. She's in pain. Like you were when you know…" I trailed off. I didn't want to make her relive those moments.

She flinched but shook it off quick. "What are you even doing here?" her eyes were suspicious.

"Look I don't have time for all of this right now just take her to Carlisle so he can suture her shoulder. She pulled them loose. I have to go find Jasper. This is all my fault and I have to fix it." I flitted past her before she could ask me any more questions. I had to make this right. I had to bring Jasper back so that she would stop hurting. He may kill after this but I just had to do something.

Bella's POV

I wasn't stupid. I knew he'd meant to cause trouble when he tried to convince me that Jasper and Alice were out hunting and spending time as a couple again. But to hear him admit that not only had he really done that but he'd orchestrated almost this whole situation. I was shocked and felt a little hysterical over the whole thing.

When I'd said he'd done this to me I'd meant helping push me through the window. I hadn't anticipated that it would cause him to go on an insane rant revealing his entire scheme. I gave a small hysterical laugh at first. This couldn't be real. Who the hell really went through the trouble of an evil plan just to get me?

I snapped and grabbed the front of his shirt. . "You better fucking fix this mess or I'm going to wait until you least suspect it and I'm going to douse you with gasoline and set your sparkly ass on fire!" I growled into his face. The anger I felt chased the pain away. . "Get your arrogant ass out of my house find my mate and bring him back here now!" huh, I felt a little more like me for a split second.

He was talking again but I wasn't listening. I was so angry I felt like I should be seeing red. He flitted from the room and came back with a rag that he placed over the stitches on my shoulder. Then he pulled his phone out and called Rose. The only word I hung on was mating pull.

Even though Carlisle had mentioned it to me as well when he explained mates to me, he hadn't really explained what the pull really was. I thought about Jasper again, my sweet golden haired cowboy with his beautiful caramel eyes. I felt the tug and pain in my chest again.

Edward helped me to sit in the rocking chair, "I promise I'll make it go away Bella. I'm going to make it better." He flitted away.

A few moments later Rose was there. She stood in the doorway and just started at me. I looked up at her and started to cry. "I'm so sorry I yelled at you. I don't even really know why I did. I just wasn't thinking straight and I don't know what's wrong with me Rose." She flitted to me and wrapped her arms around me. "I fell like my heart is trying to claw its way out of my chest, like it's being pulled in a different direction. It hurts so badly."

"Shh, it's ok Bells, it's just the pull. You shouldn't be experiencing to this degree, but it will get better when Jasper gets back." she stroked my hair. "Don't worry about last night. I understand. Now let's get you to Carlisle. Your shoulder is bleeding again."

She helped me up, helped me to dress in a fresh pair of panties and bra and a pair of loose sweats and an oversized baggy sweater. I called Charlie to let him know I was going to see Dr. Cullen because some of my stitches had come loose.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you dad. I'll make it up to you I swear." I told him before we hung up.

"It's okay Bells; I'll see you when you get home. Love you kid." He said. I was pretty sure he was just trying not to cause me anymore distress by yelling at me or getting angry at me.

"Love you to dad. I'll see you later." We hung up and Rose and I left. Rose called the others with her cell on the way to let them know the situation.

When we arrived Carlisle Esme and Emmett were there waiting on the front steps. Emmett opened my door and lifted me out. "It'll be okay Jelly Belly. Jasper will be back soon." He took me into the house and sat me down on Carlisle's desk.

This time no one left when Carlisle helped me to remove my sweater. I was very uncomfortable sitting there on display in front of them all. They were all watching me intently like I was supposed to break any second.

I had to break the tension. "Emmett, stop looking at my wrack!"

He sputtered for a minute, looking from me to Rose, trying to see if he was really in trouble. when he was sure Rose wasn't going to hurt him over him supposedly peaking at my goodies he said, "well ya know I was just admiring what Jasper gets to play with." He chuckled until.

His chuckling cut off when I sat forward with a gasp and clutched both arms to my chest. "I'm sorry Bella!" he moved forward like he wanted to hug me or comfort me but he was at a loss as to where to touch me that wouldn't get him into trouble.

"I'm fine." I wheezed out.

Carlisle ordered Rose and Emmett into the other room until he was done with me. Once he was they wanted me to stay with them until they others were back. But I wasn't comfortable in the house without Jasper.

Being in our room had caused me to collapse onto the floor and sob. So Rose took me back home when I couldn't stand it any longer. She promised that she and Emmett would be back the next day to take care of me while Charlie was at work. Carlisle called Charlie and told him that I needed to stay home from school for a few days until my body healed some. He wrote me a doctor's excuse and Charlie didn't argue.

I called Charlotte's phone and got her voice mail.

"Bella baby if this is you, we're on Jasper's trail and Peter says ta tell ya we're not comin' home without him. We love ya and we'll see ya as soon as we can."

All I could do was lay in bed and cry between tiny naps. I wanted my Jasper back. I clutched my chest.

Please god bring him back to me safely. I can't live without him.

Edwards POV

I didn't go home first and I didn't call. Esme would try and talk me into coming home. She'd already lost two children and she'd be scared to lose another. So I text my father.

Me: I'm going to help find Jasper. I'm sorry but this is entirely my fault. I'll explain when we return.

Carlisle: Alight be safe

My father was an easy man to get along with. He didn't question your motive most of the time, and even when he did he always tried to be understanding.

I took off on foot in the direction that Peter and Charlotte had taken. My cell phone rang.

It was Alice.

"Yeah," I answered as I ran.

"You're going the wrong way you stupid ass!" she yelled at me.

"Where did they go?" was all I said I wasn't going to argue with her. I knew she was angry with me. I'd counted on her distractions, and her love for me to accomplish my goal.

"Jasper is in the back of a train car, Charlotte and Peter are right behind him on another train. I can't believe you did this! Don't bother going to Seattle just turn and meet them in Fairbanks. If you speed your ass off you should be able to make it in time. The train has to make a stop before it gets there. If you don't make it there and tell him what she's going through he won't come back."

"Alice I don't think she'll survive if he doesn't." I was so afraid then if Bella didn't end up doing something drastic to over all of this that her human body would just give out under the pain of the pull. I'd seen how bad it was for Rose and how painful. I had no idea how Bella was enduring it.

"Yeah well, if she doesn't survive neither will you. Gets your ass moving. Now!" She hung up on me. I turned and ran as fast as I could.

It hurt that Alice was so angry with me. She and I had always been close. But I deserved it. And I was sure I could expect the same treatment from everyone in the family once they were all told the truth of what happened.

What I feared the most though was Jasper's reaction. I was sure I was bound to lose at least one limb. The man absolutely terrified me.

Peter's POV

"We missed a call from the baby girl." Charlotte told me flopping down on stack of lumber. My poor mate missed her little girl. Hell I missed her to. The little hellion seemed to be irresistible to love.

"She didn't leave a message?" I asked sitting down next to her and wrapping my arm around her waist.

She didn't answer me. She just held the phone up. She'd put it on speaker. Bella didn't exactly speak. She just cried. The only coherent thing she managed to say was, "Jasper." In a tiny sad voice.

"Oh god Charlotte, she's feelin' the pull isn't she?" I couldn't believe it. I'd never heard of a human feeling the pull to this extent. She shouldn't be this bad. being sad was one thing, but sobbing the way she had for the entire limit of the messages time limit was pretty bad.

Charlotte's phone rang, I looked over her shoulder. The caller was named "the pixie bitch". Alice was calling. "Why the hell is she callin' me?"

"I don't know answer it." I told her impatiently.

"What!" Charlotte snapped at her.

The phone was still on speaker. "Well it's nice hearing from you as well Charlotte." The little pixie snapped.

"What do ya want Alice, we're a little busy at the moment." I told her not much kinder than Charlotte had been to her.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry I didn't see everything until it was too late. I was too focused on everything else going on right now. But you have to get to him he's starting to make decision about how to kill himself. He keeps changing them though. He's on the train in front of you, on his way to Fairbanks." Well hell at least she was good for something.

"Can ya see what he's going to do when he gets there?" I asked looking at my watch. We were probably about halfway there.

"I don't know yet, he's thinking about taking off back down south. But he's not set on it. He's also thing about getting a plane to Italy. He's still too distraught at the moment to decide anything concrete I think. Edward is going to meet you guys there. He's booking it."

"Why is that little pansy comin' for?" Charlotte snapped at her.

"Because he has to tell Jasper what's happening to Bella. If he doesn't get there and speak to Jasper then, Jasper will run again." She said in an irritated voice. "Bella is feeling the pull so bad that she's in pain." Oh god it was worse than I feared.

"I should have stayed behind to take care of her." Charlotte said sadly.

"The others are there with her Charlotte." Alice told my mate in a kinder voice. "Even if you'd have stayed she would still be in pain. It's better that you go and help convince him to come back. On my time line you guys should be back in three nights if everything works out. The others love her and they are taking care of her. Please do worry." I couldn't believe she was being so kind. She'd never liked us and we hated her. "I have to go now I'm sorry. I'll call back if anything changes before you guys get there." she hung up.

Charlotte cuddled into me; she was upset that Bella was hurting. So was I. well we only had a little less than a day of travel ahead of us and then however long it took us to convince the dumb ass to come back with us and then a day and a half of travel time back running. Three days and we'd see her. Jasper would see her, she'd stop hurting.

I didn't much like Edward being in the mix, but if he had to be I was hoping the Major wiped the floor with him before we got back.

Please let us make it there before he took off to get himself killed. I didn't want to lose my brother, or our sweet Bella.

Chapter 20

I hope you all enjoy.

Please feel free to comment and review.

thank you so much to Xo BellaItalia oX for helping me with this one. i had to change my storyline a little and she gave me the good idea of where to go with it.


	21. Chapter 22

I own nothing all for funzies.

Chapter 21

Bella's POV

Rosalie and Emmett were already there when I opened my eyes. I'd probably only managed a whole two hours sleep the whole night. Every time I managed to drift off I would see Jasper's face. As much as I loved his beautiful face it would cause the tug in my chest to increase and I would wake up gasping for air. I hoped the others were right and he'd come back soon because I wasn't sure how much more of this I could handle.

"How are you feeling this morning Bells?" Emmett asked leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest.

He looked like a freaking giant in the doorway. "I'm just fucking peachy keen tiny giant!" I snapped at him. "My chest is trying to crawl away on its own and everything but I'm happier than a slinky on an escalator to be conscious to experience it."

"Sorry." He said and looked down at the floor looking uncomfortable now.

I could smell food cooking down stairs. "Is my dad still here?"

"No he left just before we got here. Rose is cooking you breakfast. Esme reminded us that she didn't see you eat yesterday at all, and apparently we're supposed to feed you more often than that." he chuckled.

Rose shoved him out of the way and carried a plate full of food in. "You also need a shower because you're getting a little ripe."

"Oh god are you serious?" I sniffed myself and tried to remember the last time I'd taken a shower. It had been the day of my birthday. "Will it be okay with the stitches?"

"Yeah Carlisle sent you some little waterproof pads to put over the stitches while you shower." I nibbled on the bacon and eggs she brought me, but I just didn't have an appetite. She helped me put the little clear pads with the adhesive around the edges over any place that couldn't get wet for now, and I got into the shower.

The hot water stung every scratch, cut, and scrape, but I stayed under the spray. It was nice to feel something other than the pain in my chest. I stared at the tile on the shower wall in front of me. What would happen if Jasper didn't come back? I tried so hard to ignore the pain that was pulling on me. Would the pain stop one day? No, I was sure the pain would never stop. Even if the tugging pain ever eased, the pain of losing Jasper would never go away.

I started to cry and rested my head against the cool tiles. I continued to cry until the water turned cold, and Rosalie began knocking on the door. I pulled myself together enough to wash myself. Rose helped me get the clear covers off in what she called the band aid method.

"Oh god you blond bitch!" I yelled at her as she grabbed each one and jerked it off quickly.

She gave a little chuckle, "No name calling. Take it like a man Bella." She and Emmett both laughed.

They stuck around the house with me for a few hours before I started to beg them to go home. Emmett kept asking me if I was okay, was there something he could get for me, did I want to do something fun? It was so annoying!

Rose was just as bad. She kept hovering. Every time I moved to another room in the house she was right behind me. If I changed seats she changed seats. When I went to the kitchen to start cooking dinner for Charlie she followed me and took over.

They finally left just before Charlie got home. He seemed to enjoy the steak and potatoes that Rose had prepared, but he also seemed to be extremely uncomfortable. We barely spoke. I figured he was afraid if he said the wrong thing and I'd fly off the handle again.

I didn't force conversation on him. I was doing my best to just hold myself together until I could escape to my room. Once I was there I checked my cell to see if there was a message from Charlotte or Peter. I had four texts from my mother, three from Rose, two from Esme, and one from Jacob. Everyone asking the same thing. Are you doing okay? I text everyone back that I was fine and was going to bed.

I tried to think of anything but Jasper. But he was all there was. I wondered where he was. What was he doing? I wondered if he was thinking about me. I missed going to the cabin with him. I stared out the window and cried silently through the pain.

The cabin! I wondered if anyone had thought to check there. I got up and threw on a pair of pants and a tee shirt. Charlie was still sitting in his chair in the living room when flew down the stairs stumbling down the last two.

"Where's the fire kid?" he asked standing up and looking surprised at my entrance.

I grabbed my coat and ran for the door. "I'll be back in a little bit dad I have something I've got to do."

I didn't bother listening to his protests. I jumped into the truck which was still horribly parked from coming home on the pain killers. I was parked mostly sideways in the yard, really not so much in the drive way at all.

I pushed the truck as fast as it could go without blowing up. My cell phone kept ringing in my pocket but I ignored it. If Jasper was at the cabin I wanted to be the one to find him. I had a little trouble finding the hidden little road that led to the gate, but I eventually found it and made my way up to the little house.

It was dark. There were no lights on. But he was a vampire right he didn't need a light. I grabbed a flashlight out of the glove box and staggered to the front door. It was like the closer I got the tighter my chest got around my lungs and the harder the pain pulled. I stepped inside and flipped the flashlight on. It was so cold here. Tears began to trickle down my cheeks as the flashlight glinted off some of the small glass candle holders sitting around the room. There were still dried flower pedals on the floor. I swallowed hard and made my way to the bedroom.

Things in there weren't the same. There was a new bed; there was a wilted bouquet of my favorite orchids on the dresser sitting next to a large manila envelope and a small black box. I dropped the flashlight to the floor and clutched my chest. He wasn't here. Some part of me had known he wouldn't be. Surely if he was somewhere this close he would have come to see me, or the others would have been able to find him.

I staggered to the bed. I curled up and cried. I don't know how long I was there or how long I cried, but I was still curled up when a pair of warm arms picked me up and carried me from the cabin. It was light outside and I looked up at Jacob.

Jacob's POV

Charlie began calling everywhere when Bella didn't come home. He said he'd called the Cullen house and they hadn't seen her. He had also called all of her friends from school and they hadn't seen her either. I told him that me and the boys would go out looking at all her usual hangouts. He got his deputies together and started searching town.

We really didn't have time for this right now. We'd caught the scent of an unknown vampire last night. The leach had moved across our land and into town, then the trail turned and it headed back out of town. We needed to patrol and make sure the thing didn't come back and try hunting in town. But no we were out looking for Bella.

I shouldn't be mad at her. She was having such a hard time of it lately. And it's not like she really knew what was going on. I split the pack in two. Half would look for Bella and the others would keep guard in case the bloodsucker came back.

We checked at the Cullen house just in case they'd lied to Charlie for some reason. The only one there was Esme. She said the others had gone out searching for Bella. I wracked my brain trying to think of where she would go. "Esme where's the cabin Jasper takes Bella to?"

"Oh! That's a good idea Jacob!" she said excitedly. "I didn't even think of looking there. I'm not sure exactly where it s but..." she stopped as her phone began ringing. "Hello Alice, I'm sorry dear I don't have time to talk right now we're looking for… well yes he is hold on." She held the phone out to me.

"Hello shorty, you got something for me?" the little psychic wouldn't be calling me if she hadn't seen something.

"Go out to the Olympic National Park, just past the first sign hang a left and there is a tiny hidden road. Go through the gate up to the house, she's there." she just hung up on me.

"Thanks Esme, I'll call you when we get her." she looked a little lost and shocked but she just waved at us. Quil, Embry, Seth, and I stripped once we were deep enough in the trees that she could see us. We took off in the direction of the national park.

The cabin wasn't so hard to find. Once we were close enough I could smell Bella. We shifted back once we spotted the small house. I went in leaving the others in the front yard after I dressed. It would be so much easier to shift if we didn't have to strip first or shred our clothes if we didn't.

I followed Bella's scent to the bedroom; she was curled up on the bed staring at the dresser. There was a small box and a large folder sitting next to a bunch of dead flowers. He'd probably set all this up before the party. He was going to surprise her no doubt. I wanted to be jealous. But all I could muster up was anger that he was doing this to her.

She was my best friend and she was suffering. I accepted the fact that she was a vampire's mate. From what I understood them finding their mate was like one of our kind imprinting, and finding our soul mate. I wanted her, but she wasn't my imprint. After I'd had a few minutes to think about it, it would be cruel to her to attempt to date her and then have to leave her when I imprinted. And you know then there was that whole deal where she had a mate. But how could he do this to her if he was her mate. When he finally came to his senses and brought his blood sucking ass back here I was going to kick it just a little.

I had wished so badly that she'd been my imprint. We were perfect for each other. We were the best of friends. Now that she was taken, or at least she would be if the ass ever got back, I just wished I could imprint on anyone. Even though I accepted her new status, I still couldn't stop thinking about her. I wanted some anyone to break that confection with her and replace it with their own. I would always care for her, but if I could imprint my feelings for her would shift into something a little healthier and a little less obsessive. I hoped.

I picked her up without a word and carried her from the little house. "You guys head back I'm going to take her to Charlie." They all gave me a quick nod and left.

I put her in the passenger seat of her truck and drove her back. I told Charlie I'd just found her sitting in her truck on the side of the road in her truck, out of gas.

"Why didn't you call someone?" he demanded from her.

"My cell phone died." She croaked out in a hoarse voice.

"I don't know what the hell to do here anymore Bells!" he yelled at her. "You come home looking like someone went after you with a knife, you keep freaking out at people, you act like you're still in pain constantly, you take off in the middle of the night and you don't come home." He paced back in forth in front of her where she sat on the couch. "Where the hell were you going? What is it that you needed to do?" He waited for her to answer but she didn't. She just kept her arms folded across her chest and stared at the floor sadly. "Is this all over that damned boy?" she stiffened but still didn't answer. "Maybe you should just go back and live with your mom. This place is obviously not good for you."

I started at him with wide eyes. What the hell was he doing? Even if she wasn't in the condition she was in now where she was freaking out on people as he called it this was not going to end well for him.

Bella's POV

I snapped my head up at my father's words. He wanted me to leave Forks. I couldn't do that. I panicked for just a moment. I looked to Jacob for help but he just stood in the door way looking scared. I couldn't leave what if Jasper came back looking for me? Even if he never came back I could leave this town. This is where I met him. It's where his memory was. Sure the memories hurt but I didn't have the strength to let them go. They were all I had right now. They were the only thing giving me hope that he'd come back for me one day.

A conversation creeped its way into my brain as I stared at Charlie again. ""You'll be eighteen tomorrow Bella there won't be much I can do to you after that." yup those were my father's words. And they were very true.

"Well say something!" he yelled at me and my pain and panic shifted into anger.

"I'm not leaving Forks." I said as calmly as I could manage. It sounded angry and in a clipped tone though. "And there is nothing you can do about it."

"Excuse me young lady, but you live in my house and you will not talk to me like that. You are my child and you will do what I say you will do! And I think we'll start with you won't be seeing that boy anymore! You were fine until you started dating him! And you're grounded for a month!" how the hell would he know if I was fine or not before I'd started seeing Jasper? I'd started seeing him after like four days of being in town!

I glanced at Jacob again, he was looking anywhere but a me and Charlie, he looked like he wished he was anywhere but here.

I stood and stepped very close to my father. "You're not going to blame things on him! He did nothing wrong! And I'm not going to stop seeing him!" I had a sharp pain at that but ignored it. "And I'm eighteen now! You have no say over anything I do anymore! If you don't want me to live under your roof and still get to live my own life the way I see fit to live it then I'll have my stuff out of here tonight! But you're not going to tell me I'm going to move away from Forks! And you're not going to tell me who I can and cannot see!" I shoved past him and went up to my room. He didn't follow me and neither did Jacob.

I paced my room angrily. There was less pain when I was angry I realized. I still felt the tug and the pain but it wasn't as bad when I focused all my emotion on anger.

After a little while I heard Jacob leave. And eventually Charlie tapped on my door. "Please don't move out." he grumbled through the door.

"Please don't make me!" I grumbled back.

We were silent for a long moment. "I'm going to pick up something for dinner."

"Okay." I said and I heard him leave.

I would never understand Charlie's way of handling things. My mother told me many times that I was just like my father in that respect. That I handled every situation like he did, either I was uncomfortable with it, and made jokes or pushed it off, or I got angry over it. I really didn't see it though.

I sat around my room still a little angry and stared out the window. I wanted to hang on to the anger as long as I could. I just wanted to ease the pain a little.

Jasper's POV

The pain was now constant. It no longer came and went with memories of her. I started thinking of ways to make the pain stop. I thought about going back down south and finding Maria.

I could just walk into her camp and the new borns would rip me apart. No that wasn't a good idea; she'd probably just put me back together and make sure I couldn't get away this time. She'd want me to start training her army's again. I couldn't live through that life again. And I damn sure couldn't live through it without Bella. There was no way I could subject her to that life. Not to mention if Maria knew I was mated she'd probably try and kill her.

Why was I even thinking about having Bella with me? Even if I went back and tried to claim her she'd never forgive me now. She thought what they all thought, that I'd attacked her because I couldn't keep my blood lust under control. And I had hurt her. I hadn't attacked her, but I had hurt her in attacking him.

I was so ashamed. You just didn't hurt your mate. It wasn't done. I'd never met any mated couple who could stomach hurting each other. How could I go back there and face her. How could I ask her to forgive me? I couldn't even forgive myself. I wasn't going to ask her to do it.

I thought about going to Italy and asking the Volturi to kill me. That wouldn't work either. They wouldn't kill me unless I'd broken a law. I had broken one. I'd allowed a human to become aware of us and I hadn't killed her or turned her. If I told them that though I put the whole family including Charlotte and Peter in danger as well, I wasn't going to take them all down with me. And then there was the problem of Aro. He was one of the three leaders of the Volturi and he was a collector of vampires with gifts. He wouldn't want me killed he would want me to join the guard so he could use me for his own means. I couldn't live that life without Bella either. And I couldn't subject her to the Volturi any more than I could subject her to Maria.

The train lurched to a stop and I could smell a couple of humans getting into the box car and wheeling things out. I tried to be worried that they'd find me but I just couldn't manage it. I felt the familiar ache of hunger creep into my throat at the smell of the humans. But it was dull compared to the pain in my chest, so I ignored it.

I heard one of the men start to sniffle and cry a little. I couldn't contain all the sorrow I was feeling. It was leaking out and affecting the man. They were done unloading things before they got to the crate I was curled up behind. The train began moving again and I just continued to lay there waiting for some brilliant idea to come to me, some way to just end it all that wouldn't endanger the others, especially my sweet angel.

I began dry sobbing again. I wished it would all just stop.

Peter's POV

Our train lurched to a stop and my phone rang. It was Alice again. Damnit what had changed now?

"What is it?" I didn't bother with greetings. We didn't have time for that shit right now.

"Get off the train! You can run and catch up to the other train before the one you're on takes off again. Follow the same tracks you're on right now. Some stupid human decided go home early from work tonight because Jasper's emotions leaked out all over him and he was affected by them, and now your train will be running behind schedule." She hung up.

"Come on baby." Charlotte didn't argue. She just hopped out of the box car with me and we took off following the tracks.

She was right. We'd be able to catch up to him quicker this way. I should have thought of it sooner. Stupid tiny psychic. She'd thought of it and I hadn't.

After about an hour we spotted the train ahead. Charlotte got here fist, she was faster than me. She grabbed onto the last car and swung herself up then reached out and helped me swing up. We climbed onto the top of the train and walked along until I caught his scent coming out of one of the box cars.

We dropped down through a hatch in the ceiling and I spotted him. He was spewing out sorrow, loneliness and pain. I could feel it prickling along my skin. If he'd been in the right state of mind to direct it we'd be just as useless as he was.

"Get your ass up!" Charlotte yelled at him.

He didn't acknowledge her. "She's talkin' ta ya boy!" he growled at me, but still didn't move. This was stupid. He was going to just keep laying there like a stubborn idiot and growling at us, and eventually if we stayed in the little pity my fog he was in we'd be just as depressed as he was.

I reached down grabbing him by the arm and the leg and swung him out of the box car. "Peter!" Charlotte said with a little shocked giggle. "That was just rude honey." She smiled as she jumped from the box car.

I jumped just after her. I braced myself just as me feet hit the ground. Jasper was pissed now and charging at me. As he reached out to wrap his arms around me I planted my feet, grabbed ahold of his left arm and used his momentum to toss him away from me.

He flew away from and rolled across the snow covered ground. He rolled to his feet and roared at me from a crouched position. "Ya need to stop this shit now before ya make me have ta hurt ya." Truthfully I wanted to hurt him. He was my brother and I loved him. But he'd left the little bit in pain. He'd ran from his mate. There was no excuse for that.

He charged at me again and I didn't hold back. I'd always wondered which one of us would win in a fight. Guess I'd get my chance to find out. I glanced at Charlotte to make sure she was out of harm's way. The minx was sitting on the ground cross legged with her elbow resting against her knee and her chin in her hand. She had a small smile on her face like she was anticipating a good show.

He took advantage of my distraction and managed to get his arms around my waist and tackle me to the ground. He hit me once in the face; I felt my jaw crack for a moment before it healed. I used my legs to flip us over and I was on top of him. I hit him twice in the face, causing a crack across the bridge of his nose and forehead.

"You're doin' great baby, kick his ass." Charlotte called to me sweetly.

"Thank ya baby, don't help me or anything." I yelled back her sarcastically

"But you're doin' such a good job without me honey." She was just getting way to much enjoyment out of this.

He knocked me off of him and I just barely caught him by the ankle as he tried to run away. I gripped the ankle tight and flung him up off his feet, tossing him in the air for a second. On his way back down I grabbed ahold of the front of his shirt and slammed him down onto the snow on his back. I began hitting him again, until I realized he wasn't fighting me anymore. He was just letting me pummel him now.

I stood staring down at him. He had both arms folded across his chest. "Why the hell did ya fuckin' run?" he gave a loud very not manly sob. Wow!

"Ya have ta come back Jasper. She needs ya." Charlotte stood and walked over to us.

"She don't need someone who hurt her." he continued to lie on the ground. "I hurt my mate. I saw her face, I felt her. She's scared of me now. She wouldn't let me touch her. She'll be better off without me." I felt for my brother I really did but he was just being so stupid right now. "Please just kill me Peter."

"Ain't gonna happen brother." I said kneeling down next to him. I was contemplating just dragging him back to Forks by force if he didn't just get up and come with now when someone else spoke out of the darkness.

Edward's POV

I'd run as fast as I could. I was so afraid I wouldn't make it in time. But just outside of Fairbanks I heard them. It sounded like they were beating the hell out of each other.

Peter's thoughts ran more towards the vengeful kind. He didn't want to kill Jasper, but he wanted him to hurt for what he was doing to Bella right now. Jasper was only pretending to fight; he wanted Peter to kill him. He couldn't deal with the guilt of hurting Bella at the party.

That guilt was mine. He shouldn't have to carry it. Oh god he was going to be so angry at me.

I had a moment where I was a little afraid that Alice had sent me out here to meet my death. Peter and Jasper where some of the most scary and vicious vampires I'd ever come into contact with, and they both loved Bella. When I told them the truth there was the very real possibility that I was going to be killed.

When they came into view Peter was kneeling beside Jasper. "You didn't hurt her."

All three of them turned their heads to look at me. I came to a stop about ten yards away from them. "What the hell are you doing here?" Jasper didn't sound sad anymore. His thoughts shifted from wanting to die to wanting me to.

Okay, it doesn't matter. You did this you have to fix it no matter what. I told myself trying to pull up just a little courage. "You didn't hurt her." I repeated. "I did."

He was on his feet now. Charlotte was backing away to the side of us. Jasper and Peter both crouched down and roared at me. "I know you want to kill me right now, but I have to tell you something first."

"What the fuck do ya need to tell me ya little fucker?" Jasper asked in a low voice.

I took a shaky step forward. "First off I need you to know how sorry I am. I know you can feel it but I wanted to tell you. I was stupid and selfish and I've fucked up everything." Jasper and Peter were moving slowly in opposite directions, circling around so that one of them was on each side of me. I was going to die. Before I did I had to tell him about Bella.

I rushed the rest of my words so I could get them out before they attacked. "Bella is in pain, real pain and not from being thrown through the window. She's experiencing the pull like she was one of us. It's bad Jasper. If you don't go back to her I don't think she'll survive. And I know you hate me right now, but I just wanted to tell you again how sorry I am. I know you probably already know but I planned most of what happened." they stood one of them on each side of me growling. I couldn't keep them both in my line of site so I just focused on Jasper. "I didn't mean for her to get hurt so badly, but I did make her cut herself on purpose so you'd lose control over blood lust. I was surprised when you didn't. I'm so sorry Jasper; I didn't believe you were really mates. I…"

I started to fall forward as Peter Jumped on me from behind. Just before I hit the ground I was turned. It wasn't Peter. Charlotte placed a knee on my chest putting enough pressure to break at least two ribs as I hit the ground. She began punching me in the face. Her eyes were so full of rage.

"Ya stupid, son of a bitch!" she screeched at me. She raked her nails down my face and chest shredding the front of my shirt as she was being pulled off me.

"Baby doll, calm down. He ain't ours to kill." She continued to growl and roar at me as Peter held her back.

Jasper grabbed ahold of what was left of my shirt and jerked me to my feet. There were no thoughts in his head. There was nothing. He had let everything fall away and was working on pure rage and instinct. Oh Fuck, was all I could think before he threw me.

I was air born for only a moment before he had ahold of me forcing me hard down on the ground. He rolled me to my stomach and gripped my right arm and put his boot in the middle of my back. I screamed as he twisted my arm and pulled it back at a painful angle.

Jasper's POV

"Ya made me hurt my mate!" I twisted his arm a little more making him cry out like the bitch he was. "Ya tried to steal her from me!" Twist. "Ya turned her against me!" Twist. "And ya let her and the rest of the family thing that I attacked her!" I twisted on last time and jerked. His arm came away from his body with a loud snap.

He screamed in pain. I took my boot out of the middle of his back and tossed his arm away. He rolled over and his hand went to the broken flesh of his shoulder where I'd ripped the arm away. I picked him up and stood him in front of me. I slapped him across the face hard. "Stop cryin'!"

He clamped his mouth shut but continued to whimper. "I'm not goin' to kill ya." I growled in his face. "Peter is right. Ya ain't ours to kill. I'll wait till we get back. Everyone will have a turn at ya boy. I won't let them kill ya, but I'm sure Emmett can come up with some mighty fine ways to make you hurt." He stared at me wide eyed and shivered. "I'll keep ya alive, until after they've each had a chance to take their pain out on ya. Then I'm goin' ta give ya ta Bella. If she ain't ready ta be turned I'll let her decide what'll be done with ya. And if she does want ta be turned I pity ya just a little. Because if ya thought she was angry at being manipulated and pushed around as a human, what do ya thing she'll be like as a vampire Edward." He looked terrified now. "I'm pretty sure you can kiss your pansy ass goodbye when she's an angry new born." I threw him towards his arm. "Pick up your arm and get movin'."

We took off in the direction of Forks. If we pushed it we could be back by tomorrow night the sun had just set when Peter threw me from the train. Which by the way we were going to have a good long talk about when I got all my shit sorted out. So just a little over 24 hours and I'd have my mate.

I was so upset that I hadn't even thought of her experiencing the pull like one of us to this degree. I wanted to get back to my mate. I wanted her to stop hurting. I wanted to start making up for being so stupid.

The pain in my chest began to ease the moment I started back in her direction. The only comfort I took right now was that the closer I got to Forks, the less the pull would hurt her. I hated Edward for all of this. But it was still my stupid insecurities, and shame that had driven me to run. If I'd been a better man I would have stuck by her no matter what. I just hoped she'd be able to forgive me.

Bad guy's POV

"Toby! What the hell is the hold up?" She screamed. "Why haven't you brought me the girl yet!?"

"I'm sorry master, we've sent in scouts. The only one who's returned alive says that she's protected by a large coven and a pack of shifters." I told her hoping like hell she didn't decide to take this out on me.

"who is the coven?" She was so angry. I didn't understand what was so important about this one human girl that she'd tracked her all the way from Phoenix to Forks. But she had a hard on bad for the tiny girl.

She was just a girl as far as I knew. She was nothing. She'd had a couple of Vampire companions back in Phoenix. But other than that there was nothing extraordinary about her. She was just a week insignificant human.

"I don't know master." All of our scouts who've gotten close enough to get the Intel we need have been taken out. "

She paced the room. "Since you can't seem to obey my orders and find me a decent scout. I'm sending you. Should you come back here without the information I need to retrieve the girl, I will begin cutting pieces off of you and burning them until you succeed. Do you understand me." I shivered. I'd seen her do this to others. She would start with and ear, then fingers and toes. Eventually she's start on larger appendages. Once she'd cut enough away that you were useless she'd burn what was left of you alive.

"I won't fail you master." I promised. I would bring the what she needed or die trying.

Chapter 21

Please enjoy and I'm working hard to get the next one posted soon

Feel free to comment, review, or ask questions if needed.


	22. Chapter 23

I own nothing it's all for funzies.

Chapter 22

Bella's POV

I opened my eyes and stretched. I was still a little sore but there was definitely something different this morning. I could breathe easier, the pain in my chest was still there but I wasn't pulling as hard. I didn't know what to think about it. Was he coming back? Was I just getting use to the pain? I didn't really know if I cared at this point.

I rolled out of bed and Charlie was already gone. It was pretty early, only just barely seven in the morning. I found a note from him on the kitchen table. I'll be late tonight don't worry about dinner. I felt bad. My dad didn't deserve the way I'd treated him this week.

I decided to make it up to him. I got dressed and headed to the grocery store. It was so strange to be doing something so ordinary, it was a huge leap from lying around crying all the time. It felt kind of nice. I got stuff to make Charlie friend chicken. I'd take it up to the station for him.

I kept looking for my grocery store friend, Riley, but I didn't see him on any of the isles. When I got to the front to check out I went ahead and purchased his pack of cookies though, and asked the girl at the checkout when the next time he came to work was.

"Oh he's probably being fired." She whispered so her manager wouldn't hear. "He hasn't showed up for the past three days and we can't get ahold of him." Well that sucked. I took the pack of cookies any way. I'd just put them in the glove compartment of the truck, if I didn't see him around town some time I was sure one of the pack would find them and devour them for me.

I went home and put up the groceries and started cleaning the house from top to bottom. There was a loud booming knock on the door. "Bells!" Emmett yelled.

"Problems tiny giant?" I asked as I opened the door still holding my broom.

He smiled a huge toothy grin at me. "You look much better today." He said barging in past me.

"Well I feel a little better to." I smiled at him closing the door. The pain seemed to be easing a little more. Without it, it was hard to not let his infectiously cheerful mood affect me.

"Well I got something that will make you even happier!" He was bouncing around like a little kid.

"Okay." I held my hand out palm up waiting for him to give it to me.

"It's not something I'm giving to you." He laughed.

"Okay so what is it then?" Before he could answer me there was another loud bang on the door. It flung open cracking the frame and the damn door handle fell off.

"Emmett McCarty Cullen! I told you I wanted to tell her!" Rose screamed at him.

"What the hell! You're fixing that before Charlie gets home!" I yelled at her. "And tell me what? What's going on?" they were acting like children, super strong children who could break my door but still.

"Peter called, they got Jasper!" they both tried to get out before the other one could.

They both stared at me smiling. They waited for my excited reaction. But it didn't come. I didn't feel excited. I felt scared, and nervous. They hadn't said Jasper is coming home. They said Peter had him, which meant he was being forced to come back. The pain in my chest was easing yeah, but it was because he was coming closer to Forks. It wasn't because he wanted to be. I wondered if Peter had him hog tied.

"Well good for him. I'm sure Esme will be pleased to have most of her children back home." Rosalie's smile slipped from her face at my words.

Emmett looked at me with concern. "Don't you want your mate to come home Bella?"

I thought of how to answer that. "I would love for my mate to come home and we could be together happily, but that's not going to happen Emmett. " Rose remained silent and Emmett looked confused. "If Peter is making him come home he's not coming back of his own free will. He's not coming back for me, and he won't stay. He'll take off again the minute you guys aren't looking." I said sadly.

"Oh my god!" Rose yelled suddenly. "Is that what you think? You think he's being forced to come back that he doesn't want you? He wanted you at the party and you ignored him! You pushed him away I saw you! And he didn't mean to hurt you. I don't know what the two of you were fighting about but please just let it got. Don't push him away again over your insecurities."

I got mad. I'm not even sure why. I knew she was right up to a point. "The only reason I pushed him away is because Edward put it in my head that Alice and Jasper were trying to work things out behind my back! And then Jasper felt so jealous and sad about Alice leaving. I thought he wanted her back!"

"How do you know how he was feeling did you didn't bother talking to him about it!" she shot back at me.

"I could feel it!" I yelled back.

"Wait, you what?" she sounded genuinely confused.

"I can feel what he's feeling when I touch him." I wondered why she was so confused. I just figured that if we had been mates it was just a mating thing. We could feel each other. If we weren't mates I figured that it was just Jasper leaking out accidently.

"Really?" she looked shocked.

"Yeah I thought he was either just had some emotional overflow that I could feel or that it was a mate thing."

"No, Jasper has excellent control, if he had over flow it was because there were outside emotions affecting him. And either way you shouldn't be able to feel it unless he was to project it towards you." She stared at me fascinated for a minute, like I was going to make a good science project.

"Oh!" Emmett clapped his hands together. "What emotions were you feeling from him the night of your party?"

I thought back to the party. Just thinking about the horrible emotions that flowed out of him and into me was heart breaking for me. "Emmett I really don't want to talk…"

"Just answer the question!" he snapped at me. Emmett never really got angry, especially with me.

"Sorrow, anger, regret, and jealousy, why?" I just wanted him to get to the point so I could get on with my day.

"I knew it!" and that's all he said smiling a big goofy grin.

"Knew what?!" Rose and I both napped at him after a minute.

"Oh, um, you weren't feeling him. You were feeling us." he said it like we should have already known that.

"Oh." Rose seemed to get it but I didn't. "I knew you weren't just a pretty face. My baby is smart." She smacked him on the behind noticed my confusion and explained. "Whatever is going on with you, you can feel what Jasper feels, so when the rest of us had such strong emotions over Alice leaving and he felt them you felt them. The sorrow was everyone in the room."

"Well what about everything else? The anger and jealousy?" I asked.

"Edward." They said in unison.

Well that made sense. "What about the regret?"

"Oh that was me." Emmett said happily.

"What the hell were you regretting?" Rose asked him.

"Not being able to talk you out of your panties before the party. You were just too damn sexy, and I wanted to throw you down on the floor in front of everyone so they'd know who you belonged to." He laughed.

She walked over to him and kissed him passionately. They were in my living room groping each other and they still managed to make me feel like a peeper. "Stop that!" I yelled at them.

Rose broke the kiss. "Later my love." She told Emmett. "Okay so back to the point at hand. If Emmett is right, which I'm almost certain he is." She winked at him. "He didn't want her. You were feeling us through him not him. He wanted you. He still wants you. He's had to be hurting just like you Bella. You're mates your fated to be. So get over this whiny crybaby shit about 'he doesn't want me.'."

I thought about her words for a long time. "Fix my door." I said absently as I stared off into space thinking. He hadn't wanted Alice. He'd wanted me. This was entirely fault, I pushed him away. I walked around the house continuing to clean, going through the motions as my mind wondered.

Rose and Emmett left long enough to run to the hardware store to get stuff to fix the door. I was pretty sure they'd both left more to give me time to think about what they'd told me. He wanted me. I began to smile. The tightness in my chest eased a little more.

Rose and Emmett were back by the time I'd gotten the upstairs clean and I was working on downstairs now. Emmett smirked at me as I smiled at my thoughts. As I cleaned the kitchen though I started to have doubts again though, if he really wanted me why didn't he come back on his own?

I felt my brow crease in my deep thoughts. What if he was only coming back to tell me he didn't want a mate who didn't trust him. What if… "Stop it!" Rose yelled at me. She was holding a piece of trim up so that Emmett could nail it into place.

"What?" I was confused as to what I was doing.

"You're thinking too hard. Stop doubting yourself." She said exasperated. "I don't understand you at all. You are this strong fierce girl one minute who has no problem standing up to vampires and werewolves, or even your cop daddy with a gun. But when it comes to Jasper you get insecure, and scarred like a little mouse. He's the same damn way to, he used to be 'The Major'. One of the most feared warriors of our kind. So confident and fearless, but throw one human girl at him and he becomes insecure and runs from his problems instead of dealing with them head on. Honestly I don't know how the two of you ever managed to get it on!"

"I bet they have that oh so vanilla sex." Emmett laughed. "They probably hide from each other under the covers."

I couldn't help it. I laughed. "What the hell is oh so vanilla sex?" I asked blushing.

"You know no kinky stuff." Rose said as she screwed in a new door handle.

"What the hell do you guys do up there that is considered so damn kinky?" I wished I hadn't asked that.

Emmett was just suddenly right in front of me with his cell phone out. "Well you see there is this one thing that Rose likes to do to me that…"

"Ah! No!" I tried to put my hand up in front of the phone in time not to see the dirty pictures he was trying to show me. But unfortunately I caught an eye full of Rosalie wearing something that looked like it came out of dominatrix's r us, and Emmett bent over the bed very much naked.

"Emmett leave her alone, and stop flashing that picture at people." Rose laughed. "Seriously Bella, just think positive. When Jasper gets home you two can talk. Don't start jumping to conclusions." Damned logical vampires. She was right. I'd gotten us into all this with my over thinking and insecurity.

I finished cleaning and they finished the door. When I started dinner for Charlie they headed out. Rose was right. I was always so much stronger than what I was being right now. I hated girls who were as weak and sniveling as I was right now. I would wait and talk to him before I jumped to any more conclusions or assumptions.

I just pushed everything else out of my head and focused on the easing pain in my chest. He was getting closer. I pasted a smile on my face as I thought about being back in the cabin with him again. Going swimming in our warm little lake. Being wrapped in his arms as I slept. I couldn't wait.

I finished Charlie's dinner and I felt lighter, happier. I felt like myself. I felt shitty for the way I'd yelled at my dad. Hopefully the hot dinner would take care of some of my guilt. I packaged everything in containers and loaded it into the truck to take to the station. I turned the radio onto mine and Jasper's station in the truck and sang along to Beautiful Loser. I loved that song.

"Hey dad." I smiled at Charlie as I walked to his desk.

He looked shocked to see me dressed, and not screaming obviously. "What's wrong?" he said in an alarmed voice. I guess he'd gotten use to only talking to me when something was wrong, or when I was pissed

"Nothing dad, I brought you dinner as a peace offering." I pulled the container of chicken out of the bag I was carrying and sat it down on his desk and peeled the lid back. Charlie's face split in a grin.

"Oh god yes!" he moaned as I pulled out his containers of sides. I laughed at him.

"So am I forgiven?" I asked sitting in the chair next to the desk.

He picked up a chicken leg and took a big bite. "Hell yeah you are!" he said after swallowing. "Who could stay mad at someone who cooks like this." he smiled at me. I would have to do so much more for being such a crappy daughter over the last few days but at least he was happy right now.

We chit chatted for a few more minutes, and he threatened one of his deputies that he'd shoot him if he tried to take a chicken leg out of his food again. I laughed told him I'd see him at home and headed out.

By the time I got home it was starting to get dark. I decided to take a shower and put on some nice jammies just in case Jasper got home tonight. I did my best to put the damn clear covers over the stitches and washed up quickly. I was really starting to enjoy the feelings surging through me. I was doing so many familiar things today. Now I was showering in anticipation of Jasper.

I grumbled pulling the clear patches off after I got out. Finally opting for Rose's band aid method. Pulling slowly was just prolonging the pain. "Oh Damnit you brunet bitch!" I squealed at myself and then laughed. The pain wasn't nearly as bad now. More of just a faint tugging now, more just discomfort than pain.

I pulled out a pair of white pajama bottoms with flowers all over them in different shades of green; I pulled on sports bra and a sage green tank top with them. I went down stairs and got me a bottle of water and an orange. I was going to really miss oranges when I was turned. I was going to miss all sweet fruits. They were my favorite snack.

I stopped and sat down at the kitchen table. That thought came out of nowhere. I hadn't really seriously thought of being turned since Jasper left. I smiled and started to feel a little geared up and excited.

I was still sitting in the kitchen snacking on my orange when Charlie came in. it was a little after eleven. "Hey kid what are you still doing up?"

"Got hungry." I said around the fruit in my mouth.

"So I see." He chuckled. He bent and kissed the top of my head. "Dinner was great tonight, thank you honey." I shook my head yes in acknowledgement as I stuffed another piece into my mouth. I hadn't realized how very hungry I had been. He chuckled at me again. "I'm going up for a quick shower and bed." He looked beat.

"Night dad." I called as he left.

"Night Bells, love you." he disappeared up the stairs.

I finished up and went up and crawled into my own bed. Jasper was getting pretty close now. It was like there was a rubber band between us and I could feel the tension being released a little at a time. I tried to stay awake but my exhaustion over the last few days caught up with me and I slipped into darkness.

I turned over restlessly and a pair of strong cool arms eased around me. "Mm. I've been waiting for you." I mumbled wrapping my arms around him my eyes still closed.

"Oh really, and how did you happen to know to be waiting for me?" my eyes flew open that was not Jasper's voice.

Toby's POV

The shifters in this town were a pain in the ass. I had eventually lead them out on a false train and then doubled back, trying to stay in the tree tops as I moved so they wouldn't catch my scent again. I kept far enough away that her two vampire companions wouldn't see me or smell me.

I still couldn't see what was so impressive about this girl. But I wouldn't disobey. I'd get the information that my master wanted. The wolf pack was sixteen strong. From the scents I was getting around town there were at least seven different coven members in this town. This little human must be something extraordinary to be so deserving of so many supernatural protectors.

I followed her after the blonde beauty and the muscle man left. I started thinking that I wouldn't be very hard to just take her with me if I really wanted to. It would make my master very happy. I was already behind enemy lines. They wouldn't chance trying to take me out if I had her for fear that I'd take her down with me. She went into the police station. I listened from the roof top.

Good lord her father was the police chief. The little thing had protection all over the place. Too bad they had all let their guards down. They would be losing her for their stupidity.

I perched on a tree limb in the dark outside of what looked like her bedroom. I watched her as she came in after showing and dressed. Her body was quite nice, if not a little beat up. I wondered how her protectors had let her get this way. She went down and was moving around the lower portion of the house. I moved to watch her through the kitchen window. She was sitting at the table eating an orange. She was bouncing one of her legs and looked very anxious about something. I found myself wanting to go in and ask her what was the matter. I had actually taken a step forward before I caught myself.

I decided it was probably better to go back up to perch in the tree again as her father pulled up. They shared pleasantries and he went to shower and then went to his room shutting the door. She stayed down stairs for a few more moments and then crawled into her own bed.

She looked to be fighting her sleep for some reason; I cocked my head to the side and watched her curiously. When she finally went out I slipped in. I just stood above her watching her sleep for a long time. She was wrestles. Probably having nightmares. I wished briefly I could remember what it was like to sleep, to dream.

Now that I was really looking at the small girl she was much prettier than I'd originally thought. Her lips were somewhat pouty and very kissable looking, her upper lip just slightly fuller than the bottom. Her features were soft and sweet looking set on her heart shaped face. I ran my hand lightly through her silky chestnut hair. Her body when I'd taken the liberty of watching while she dressed was quite nice as well. She was slender but she'd filled out to have some very nice womanly curves since the last time I'd seen her in Phoenix. I'd only seen her the one time before her vampire friends had shipped her off, and it had been from a great distance. But she'd been so scrawny looking. No she was quite mouthwatering.

I found myself wondering if the master might let me keep her as a companion for bringing her back. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but instead of scooping her up and just taking her with me now I slid onto the bed with her. She shifted and turned towards me. I slid an arm around her. She shocked me by wrapping an arm around me and snuggling close. "Mm. I've been waiting for you." she mumbled with her eyes still closed.

I felt a wave of jealousy roll through me. She'd been waiting for another male. I pushed it to the side for now. It didn't matter. She'd be coming with me, and I was sure I could convince the master to let me have her. I smiled and leaned close to her, "Oh really, and how did you happen to know to be waiting for me?" I asked playfully.

Her eyes flew open and she leaned away from me trying to see my face in the dark. "W-who are you?" she asked in a startled whisper, trying to wiggle away from me, but I pulled her more securely against me.

"My name is Toby." I said smiling at her. "Oh do that again it felt nice." I chuckled at the flush of red that rushed to her cheeks and she stopped wiggling around.

"Why the hell are you in my room Toby? And what the fuck do you want?" she stared up at me angrily.

I cocked my head to the side. The tiny girl was fearless. She was faced with an unknown vampire in her room in the middle of the night and she was rude, and questioning, instead of screaming and pleading. "I want you of course." I told her with a smile. "Why else would I be here?"

She made a face, "Yes of course. Well as super as it is to have strange men all over me, I'm really not into it so let go of me!" she snapped.

She began struggling again and I growled at her. She stilled quickly. I could smell fear coming off of her. It smelled wonderful. I turned more fully towards her, and buried my face in her neck taking a long sniff. If I was less controlled I wouldn't have been able to resist it.

But I did. Before I could tell what she was going to do she brought her knee up trying to knee me in the balls. Her being a human it didn't really hurt but I was feeling frisky, so I let her go and gave her a little head start. I liked a good chase.

Jasper's POV

We were almost home now. The pain in my chest was gone now. There was only a tugging trying to pull me in Bella's direction. I veered off from the others planning to go straight to her.

"Hold it right there stud muffin!" Charlotte caught me by the arm and jerked me to a stop.

"What the hell are ya doin'?" I asked her irritated. They had just chased me all the way to Alaska to bring me back to Bella and now she was stopping me.

"News flash genius but you've been in the same damn clothes for almost a week. Don't ya think ya should shower and change before ya go over gropin' my baby?" she grumbled at me.

I looked down at myself. She had a point I was still wearing the same clothes I'd been wearing the night everything had turned to shit. I didn't want to still be wearing them and remind Bella of all of that.

So the four of us went to house instead, Rose and Emmett embraced me happily. "Dude?" Emmett said still hugging me.

"Yeah?" I said hugging the two of them back.

"You wreak man take a shower!" we both chuckled, as they pulled away from me.

Then without warning Rose punched me in the gut making me double over for a second. As I stood up Emmett punched me in the face sending me flying back into the wall making a dent. "What the fuck?" I yelled as I stared up at them from the floor.

"Dude you're my brother and I love you." he said calmly, "But you hurt my baby sister!" he yelled at me. "Now get up and shower before she has to see you like this." well I guess I deserved that.

I stood up and started for the stairs. Esme and Carlisle were suddenly in front of me. I started to smile at my adopted parent, but Esme slapped me in the face. "How dare you leave without a word? We had no idea if you were okay or if you were laying in a ditch somewhere!" she was being so overly dramatic about this. It wasn't like I was a human teenager and could actually be laying in a ditch somewhere dead. "And poor Bella has been in such pain! How could you do that to her? How could you attack your mate?"

Okay I snapped I was guilty of hurting Bella and leaving her in pain. But I had, had help on the injury front. I stepped back so I could see all of them, as the douche in question entered the house looking down at the floor.

"Are ya goin' to tell them or are ya goin' to make me do it?" I asked him. His eyes darted up to me nervously.

"Um, okay." Started shuffling around. Peter and Charlotte moved to block the door so he couldn't tuck tail and run. "Jasper didn't attack Bella per say." He hedged.

"Ya tell them the truth now or I'll rip ya into to several pieces and leave you that way for a month!" I roared at him. I would take my lumps over this shit but I wasn't doing it alone. It had taken both of us to get to this point. Well technically it had taken all three of us since Bella had allowed what Edward had told her to color her judgment of me. But I seriously doubted now was the time to bring that up if ever.

"Edward what did you do?" Esme demanded in that commanding mother voice that scared the hell out of all of us. You just don't fuck with momma no matter how old you are.

"I pushed Bella back to make her cut her hand so that Jasper would attack, but he didn't. He attacked me, and since I had pushed Bella back behind me she went through the glass with us." he said in a quiet voice.

Emmett roared so loud it shook the window panes. He was on Edward first; he had him by the neck picking his body up off the floor. "Emmett wait!" Esme pleaded. I couldn't believe it she wasn't going to let the little fucker get what he deserved. I could feel the relief coming off him.

"Esme honey," Carlisle said grabbing ahold of her stopping her from breaking up the fight. "You're going to have to let the children work this out themselves. Edward has done something that is absolutely forbidden in harming another's mate. He deserves a punishment my love I'm sorry. "

She looked at him like he was stupid. "I know that!" she snapped at him. "I want them to take it outside; there is already a dent in my wall. I don't want them destroying my whole house."

Emmett smiled an abso- fucking- lutely evil grin and carried Edward out still dangling him above the ground by his neck. Rose, Peter, and Charlotte followed him.

"I'm so sorry for doubting you my dear." Esme stroked my cheek and then went out to watch her stupidest son get his ass handed to him, possibly quite literally.

"We should have known you were stronger than that." Carlisle said patting my shoulder. "You're a good man son." He smiled at me. "But seriously shower before you go see her. You really do stink and you look like hell." He laughed and went out with the others.

I went to our bedroom. Her scent was fading fast in the room. I hated that. I showered and dressed in less than ten minutes. It was pretty late she'd already be in bed tossing and turning without me there to hold her and sing her into her sweet dreams.

"Jasper!" Esme and Rose shrieked. Oh shit surely Emmett hadn't let that little bastard get the better of him. My phone was ringing on the nightstand where I'd left it the night of the party. it was Alice.

I ran to the front yard and answered. "Get there now!" she shrieked. "Get to Bella's house! I've lost her future all together it's not there anymore!" she sobbed.

I dropped the phone and we all ran. I had to get to her. Alice had never been able to see her clearly but she had been able to see her. If she'd lost her it was bad. I hoped we weren't too late. She wasn't dead yet she couldn't be. I would feel that wouldn't I? God please don't let her die. I need her!

Bella's POV

I wasn't stupid. He'd let me go, I hadn't hurt him. I started to run from the room. My first instinct was to yell for my dad, the cop with a gun. But I couldn't do that. A bullet wouldn't hurt this guy. If I got Charlie's attention he'd come in and surely die. I had no doubt that, that was where I was headed at the moment.

I shuffled away from the door. Even if he didn't kill Charlie, and I tried to run he'd catch me. I had my back against my closet. "Where are you going little rabbit?" he chuckled at me.

As bad guys went he didn't really look like one. He was taller than me but shorter than Jasper. He was muscular though. Not as bulky as Emmett but he'd done some weightlifting in his human life. He had been young when he was turned, seventeen or eighteen maybe. But he didn't look like a child. He had been a mature seventeen or eighteen. He looked like at least one of his parents had been Asian his eyes were slightly up tilted , he had high cheekbones, a long straight nose, full lips, and chiseled good looks and short black hair. I guess if I was going to die being killed by a sexy vampire was better than some of the alternatives. Did that make sense? No but I was fixing to die I didn't have to make sense.

I swallowed hard as he stalked me. Every step he took toward me I took another step away sliding further across my closet door. I was backing myself into a corner. Once I was there he slammed both hands on the wall beside me.

"Be quiet!" I snapped at him. He looked at me amused but confused. "My father is asleep! I don't want him hurt. So do whatever you have to do to me but be quiet!"

He chuckled. "Do you have no real fear in you sweet little rabbit? "He wasn't being quiet enough.

I reached out and slapped him. "I said be quiet!" moon light broke through my window and I could see anger glittering in his red eyes. He grabbed ahold of my hand that I'd used to hit him with and bent it back at a painful angle. I clenched my teeth together and tried to stay quiet.

"You'll have to learn your place quick little rabbit. You will not strike me in anger!" oh god I could hear Charlie moving around loudly. I shut my eyes and prayed. Please god don't let this happen. Just let him kill me and leave my father alone.

Let's face it, it was me. God wasn't listening. My bedroom door flung open. My eyes flew open and Charlie was standing in the door holding his gun pointed at Toby. "Get the hell away from my daughter you piece of shit!" Charlie growled through gritted teeth.

Toby growled and grabbed ahold of my upper arms and shoved me hard into the wall. My head made contact with a loud thump. I was dazed for just a few moments. But it was a few moments to long. I looked up to see that Toby had my father pinned against the wall by his neck, his feet dangling above the ground. He had Charlie's hand with the gun pinned to the wall as well squeezing hard until Charlie dropped the gun. I could hear the sickening sound of his bones breaking. And Charlie tried to cry out but his throat was being crushed.

I lurched up and threw myself into the side of Toby. I fell back on the floor in another daze. He was like hitting a concrete pole. "Now, now little rabbit wait your turn." I watched in horror as he brought my father down and sank his teeth into his neck and drank greedily.

I got up again and began hitting him. It was hurting me more than him but I didn't care. I kept hitting I wanted him off my father. I grabbed ahold of Toby's head and tried to pry him from my father. He didn't budge. I looked at Charlie. His eyes were wide with fear as he stared at me. I began to sob. Toby drank until Charlie's eyes glazed over and went vacant. Toby let go of him and he fell to the floor, I sank down with him. Clutching him to me.

"Daddy!" I cried uselessly. "Daddy get up please." I begged my voice coming out sounding almost like a little girl.

Toby jerked me up, "What have you done?" I looked down at my hand in his. My fists were bleeding were I'd hit him. He looked at me with hunger in his eyes again. I would join my father soon. I began to cry again.

Toby grabbed ahold of me and sank his teeth into my neck. I tried to scream in pain but he clamped his hand over my mouth. He drank and I began to feel lightheaded and heard a roaring sound in my ears. I thought about jasper. I wouldn't get to see him one last time. I was going to die before I could tell him I was sorry. Before I could make things right. I felt my body begin to fall into darkness. I was on the floor. Toby had dropped me. I was facing Charlie. His blank eyes staring back at me. I reached out weakly and gripped his hand. "I'm sorry daddy." I said weakly.

I slipped into darkness and heard an angel. "It's okay Bella I'll take care of ya." Hmm I didn't know angels had southern accents. Fire! I was on fire!

Jasper's POV

I pushed myself so hard and ran so fast that I beat Charlotte and Edward to the house. That in its self was a damned miracle. They were the fastest two vampires I'd ever met.

The house came into view and everything looked fine from the outside. But I could hear him. I could feel the menace and desire he had for my mate. "What have you done?" he demanded as I broke through the front door and flew up the stairs. I heard her muffled screams.

As I came through her door he was clutching her body to him and drinking from her. I roared and jerked her away from him. She hit the floor and I leaped onto him. The others were there quickly. Emmett pulled me away and ordered me to take care of Bella before she bled out on the floor. The others were on him each of them getting a piece of him and ripping him to pieces.

She reached out to her father and cried "I'm sorry daddy." I dry sobbed.

Carlisle was there going over her injuries. They weren't bad except the bite mark. When I'd jerked her away from him he'd taken a large portion of her neck away in his mouth. She was bleeding badly. "She doesn't have enough Venom in her. I can do it if you don't think you can but if we don't do it now she dies."

"I'll do it." I couldn't stand the thought of another male turning my mate. I could do this I could be strong for her. I leaned close to her and whispered "It's okay Bella I'll take care of ya." I bit the other side of her neck pushing as much venom in as I could. I bit both of her wrists, her ankles, her thighs; I forced mouth fulls of venom into her body. I could still hear her heart beating but it was weak. I was so scared we were too late until her body jerked and she shrieked.

Carlisle clamped a hand over her mouth so the neighbors wouldn't hear. I leaned down close to her and whispered into her ear. "Baby I know it hurts, but please be strong and try and stay quiet just so we can get ya out a here." I knew it was a useless request. She would be in too much pain to be able to comprehend what I'd said. But she shocked me by closing her mouth and staying quiet.

"Holly shit." Emmett and Edward said in unison.

"One of a kind." Peter said proudly.

"That's extraordinary." Carlisle said taking his hand away.

Esme and Rose just started at her. "The little hell cat is goin' ta be somethin' special." Charlotte said happily.

"Thank you baby girl." I whispered and scooped her up. I looked over to see the male in many pieces, although some were already trying to fuse back together.

"Keep the pieces separated and transport them back to the basement at the house. Charlotte, Peter please pack as much of the house as possible for Bella, then put Charlie back in his bed and cause a house fire." My mate was going to be devastated about her father. But he was gone, the venom couldn't save him. We would burn the house. Peter knew how to burn it so that Charlie would be cremated. He'd find a body for Bella's bed and do the same with it. The town would think that the chief and his daughter burned in their sleep in a house fire. It was late enough that no one would notice and still early enough for them to get done what they needed to.

Bella stiffened in my arms and I fled back to the house with her. I caught the scent of at least one wolf on me my there so I knew we'd have to deal with the pack before we'd be able to leave Forks in peace after Bella's transition was complete.

I took her into our bathroom and got rid of her bloody clothes. I bathed her making sure she there were no more traces of the blood on her beautiful body. I snipped the stitches Carlisle had stitched her human body up with and pulled them loose. I didn't want her vampire skin to heal over then when the venom repaired her remaining cuts from the window. Many of them were already knitting together. When I laid her out on the bed and began drying her, Rosalie and Esme came in to help me. Rose pulled out clothes for her. Esme dried and brushed her hair, and for some reason once Bella was dressed Emmett came in and painted her nails and toenails pink.

"Why?" I asked annoyed. Bella would hate not just the color but the fact that it had been done without her permission.

"For funzies." Was all he said with an annoying smile. I had no idea how he could find levity at a time like this but he did.

I didn't argue I went down to the basement where the guys were reassembling the fucker who'd killed my mates father, and forced her into being turned before she was ready. I would find out why he'd done this and then I'd make him pay painfully.

Chapter 22

Thank you Xo BellaItalia oX for helping me.

Okay I'm not sure how many more chapters this story is going to be but I think we're quickly coming to the end if a few more or so, I've been thinking about my next story. I would like your feedback. I've already got some shorts that will tie into this one. But I've also been thinking about an

Emmett/ Bella story, and also I just recently read a Carlisle/ Bella story and was thinking about doing one of them. Also about the title to my story I was originally going to make it just a romance with her torn between the brothers and when I changed the direction I neglected to change the title. I was wondering anyone had any ideas about a new title for this one, because I fully intend to use this tittle to do the romance, and I'm not planning to decide which brother she'll end up with until I write the last chapter.

I hope everyone enjoyed. Please feel free to comment, review, or ask questions.


	23. Chapter 24

I own nothing all for funzies.

Chapter 23

Jasper's POV

When I got to the basement Peter, Edward, and Carlisle had the head reattached to the torso. The arms and legs were still lying around the room in separate containers. Edward walked over to one of the boxes and started to pull out an arm.

"What the hell are ya doin'?" I snapped at him.

"You said reassemble." He looked confused. For someone who prided himself on being so intelligent he was a moron. "Why am I a moron?" he asked reading my thoughts.

"Cuz if you put the arms and legs back on he'll be fully functional, and we don't know a damn thing about him boy. He could have abilities that could allow him to get away. We just want to question him we ain't takin' him dancin' he'll be fine without the arms and legs." Peter answered for me.

"Make yourself useful and go get somethin' for him to eat. He ain't going to do any talkin' as weak as he is." I commanded Edward, who looked like he was going to argue.

"Edward do as you're told son." Carlisle told him in a calm but commanding tone. Edward left without another word. "Will he be able to respond properly like this?" Carlisle asked

"Yes sir," I didn't want to admit this to my father but he asked so I'd tell him truth. "We used this technique often in the wars." I told him and looked at the floor in shame.

He walked to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't wallow in the past Jasper. We don't care what happened before you came to us." then he shocked me with his next statement. "You just make sure that fucker suffers when he dies for what he did to our Isabella." He left the basement without a backwards glance. I could feel the shame over his comment but the anger he felt to the stranger for hurting a member of his family was so much stronger.

"Well looks like big daddy is full of surprises." Peter chuckled.

"Did ya get it all taken care of?" I asked in a sad voice.

"Yes sir. Charlotte in puttin' all the boxes she packed up into the garage right now. I think she got everything little bit would want or need." He sounded just as sad as me. Neither of us wanted Bella's turning to be like this.

Edward brought back a raccoon, and then fled. He was too squeamish for the rough stuff.

The head on the body was coming to. I held the animal up to his mouth and he struck. I pulled it away before he was finished. I only wanted him to have enough strength to talk nothing more.

"That's disgusting!" he snapped in a strained voice. I knew he was in pain from his lost limbs but he was trying to put on a brave front.

"Quit ya bitchin'!" I slapped him in the face to get his attention. "Why did ya come here?"

"I was just passing through." He was lying.

"Why did ya attack the little bit and her father?" Peter asked angrily.

"Who?" he was playing dumb.

Peter back handed him. "the girl ya just tried ta slaughter!"

He smiled an evil grin. "Oh you mean my sweet little rabbit." I wanted to kill him right then for talking about my mate like that. I had to control it though we had to find out why he'd been there.

I slapped him again. "Here is how this is goin' to work ya piece of shit. You're goin' to start tellin' the truth now. And don't even bother tryin' to argue that ya are. I'm gifted I can tell that you're lying. If ya don't start tellin' the truth I'm goin' to start cuttin' all the small pieces ya got left off ya a little at a time and burnin' them. Do you understand? I hope so because I plan on startin' with the tender bits!"

He face actually looked like it paled. "W-what's your name?" he asked fear pouring off him.

"His name is Jasper, but ya can call him The Major." Peter told him. His fear spiked. He'd heard of me. Peter noticed his reaction to and added. "And that girl ya attacked tonight is his mate."

"Oh god, oh god, oh god." If he were human he'd be hyperventilating. "Please just kill me now! She'll kill me anyway if you send me back! Please don't torture me! I'm sorry I was only supposed to observe. I was only going to take her because I thought it would get me bonus point with the master. Please I'm begging you just kill me now!" He was screaming now.

I heard a high pitched shriek from upstairs. "Peter take care of this!" I called back to him as I raced upstairs.

Esme and Rosalie each had ahold of one of Bella's arms trying to hold her still. Edward and Emmett had her legs. Carlisle was holding her head still. "What happened?" I yelled at them.

"She was fine until the dude in the basement started screaming. Then she freaked." Emmett said as he struggled with her right leg. "She getting awfully strong awfully fast!" he grunted as she jerked and kicked him in the stomach.

I went to her side pushing Rose out of the way. "Bella baby, it's me Jasper, please calm down everything is goin' to be okay. I'm right here. Shh." I stroked her hair. "Calm down baby." I started to push some calm into her but she suddenly stilled herself. Everyone backed off.

"She has amazing self-control to be able to do that." Edward said. I growled at him. I didn't want him talking about her ever again.

I started to leave the room again and she whimpered. "Emmett I know I'm askin' a lot of ya brother but can ya assist Peter down stairs?" I pulled the high back chair next to the bed and sat down.

"Yeah man don't worry, just tend to your mate." he patted my shoulder as he left. The others filed out right after, leaving me alone with my mate. I could feel the pain she was in. I wished I could make it better. But even my gifts couldn't bat down the fire she must be feeling as my venom coursed through her repairing her body, rebuilding it from the inside out so that she'd be in her peak physical condition before it froze her.

"She can feel you, you know." Rose was standing in the doorway to the room.

"What?" I had no idea what she meant.

"That's what happened at the party. She told me she could feel your emotions when she touches you. She thought it was a mating thing." Rose smiled sadly. "When we all reacted so strongly to Alice's news, Bella felt us through you. She thought you wanted Alice back because of something Edward told her." She paused for a minute, looking sadly at Bella. I know she was thinking of her own change. She was sad for Bella. "By the way why haven't you killed him yet?" she asked trying to push away the bad memories.

I smiled a wicked smile at her. "I thought I'd let her decide what to do with him after ya'll get a turn at him." she smiled a wicked smile back at me and left calling Edwards name. I wondered what she was going to do to him but I wasn't going to leave Bella again to find out. She was my first and only priority right now.

She whimpered again and tensed. I turned our station on the radio and crawled onto the bed with her, wrapping an arm around her waist and resting my forehead against her temple. I began whispering to her, I had a lot to apologize for and I was worried that after she completed the transformation she wouldn't let me.

Bella's POV

I wanted to claw at my skin. I wanted to scream. I wanted to put the fire out. But the sweet southern voice had told me I needed to be quiet. I wasn't aware of movement or time, all I was aware of was the pain and the southern angel.

After a little while I didn't hear the angel anymore and I began to become anxious. Was he leaving me in hell? I heard someone else scream. Oh god I was in hell. I was hearing someone else being tortured. I let out an involuntary scream. I was sure my arms and legs were trying to move but they were being pinned in icy restraints.

"Bella baby, it's me Jasper, please calm down everything is going to be okay. I'm right here. Shh." It was Jasper. My angel was Jasper. I felt a surge of joy through the pain for just a moment. I felt something run over my head. "Calm down baby."

I could do this; I could be calm for him. I forced myself to be still again. I clenched my teeth together and thought hard about anything but the pain.

Jasper, I would concentrate on Jasper. His beautiful caramel colored eyes, his silky golden hair. How wonderful his lips felt on mine. But the pain was increasing as the fire licked up my body again. I was trying so hard to do what he wanted though. A whimper slipped out.

I felt something cool across my stomach, and then something else on my temple. "I know this is probably the worst time to talk about this, but I don't really know what things will be like when you've completed the change." Jasper said next to my ear.

I was going through the change? _Of course you are stupid, do you really think he would just stand around watching you burn and tell you to be quiet through it_. Oh great what a wonderful time for the inner voice to return.

"I'm so sorry for leavin' ya. I love ya so much. I just couldn't stand the thought that I'd hurt ya." He let out a small sob. "Rose told me that ya can feel what I'm feelin' when ya touch me. I hope that's true and ya can feel how much I love ya right now." I could feel it. His love was helping to sooth the burn. He was like my own personal anesthetic.

"I want ya to know that what ya felt from me the night of your party was everyone else through me I swear. I don't want her back. You're my mate. I could never ever want anyone but you." I felt soft cool lips on my cheek.

"Is she smiling'?" I knew that voice. Who was that? Why was I having so much trouble remembering? Charlotte! She was charlotte. She'd been a mother figure to me.

Jasper's lips left my cheek and I felt him shift beside me. But I could still feel his love for me, so the flames were still batted back. Now my body felt sore and tender like my hand when I'd burned myself cooking.

"Yeah she is." Jasper's voice was amused. I liked his voice amused. I tried to think of other times I'd heard him amused. I had to try hard but it came to me. The cabin, I remembered the cabin. I remembered playing in the warm water. I remembered his hands on my body. I remembered our bodies joining in love. Mmm, that one was nice. Jasper chuckled. "How the hell can ya be thinkin' naughty thoughts right now?"

"I knew it! She pretends she's not a dirty minded little monkey but she is!" someone else in the room said and then laughed a loud booming laugh. I knew that voice to. His name came to me easier than Charlottes had. That was Emmett. He was my big brother.

"I thought ya were down helpin' Peter." Jasper said.

Peter, he was Charlotte's husband. They took care of me back in Phoenix.

"We're done man. He said he'd fill you in when he was done with the clean-up." Emmett didn't sound happy anymore.

Everything was quiet for a long time. Or at least I assumed it was a long time, it was getting harder and harder to gage time now. I was pretty sure I could hear music though. Stand by me. I liked it.

"Jasper will you please ask Rosalie to give me my arm back?" I knew that voice. I hated that voice I wanted that voice to suffer.

The fire was back licking up my body worse than before despite Jasper's help. I heard several people scream and Jasper was gone. I began to panic and I screamed in pain again. I screamed out Jasper's name.

"I'm here baby. I'm here." The coolness was back across my stomach and he was pressing as much of himself as he could to my side. The fire receded and I stilled.

"What the fuck was that?" Charlotte asked in a strained sounding voice.

"I don't know." Jasper said in a worried voice.

"Is she okay?" That was Edward! I hated Edward. The fire was back, and every one screamed again including Jasper right next to me.

"Shh, baby it's okay. Calm down you're hurtin' people." How the hell was I hurting people? I could barely manage to move other than to thrash in pain. "Please baby calm down." His voice was strained. I did my best to calm down.

"That's her doing that?" Emmett asked in an amazed voice.

"Yeah, I don't think she likes Edward." Jasper said. Damn straight I didn't like him. But I didn't know why.

Why didn't I like him? He did something to make me hate him. God why wouldn't my brain work right?

"Maybe we should all go in the other room so she doesn't continue to become agitated." That was a deep but gentle voice. Carlisle, he was Jasper's father. He had a wife named Esme. I could remember them. "Rosalie, give him his arm back. We have too much going on right now for you to be taking your anger out on him right now." Rosalie was Emmett's mate. I loved her like a sister.

"They're all gone honey." He rested his head against my temple again. I stetted down into the feelings he was sending me. He loved me. I let it wrap around me, chasing the flames back again. "Bella, I don't know if Peter ever talked to ya about what it would be like when ya were turned, but for a little while after you're turned it's goin' to be hard for ya to remember some of your human life. But I want ya to try real hard to hold on to some of it okay." The coolness left my stomach and moved to my forearm. He was running his fingertips lightly over my skin. "I want ya to remember your human family and friends. Try and focus on them, hold them to ya as long as ya can. I know you'll be happier with their memories."

My human life, why was I leaving my human life behind? _Because, you're becoming a vampire stupid._

Oh great the voice again. I wished you would just go away.

_You know it's never a good sign when you start talking back to the voices in your head, right?_

I ignored the voice, and tried to do what Jasper told me to. Remember my human life. I had a mother. Her name was Renee, she was married to Phil. They lived far away. But Phil wasn't my dad. It took my brain a very long time to process that I had a dad. Charlie! He was my dad. I loved my dad very much. He was going to be so upset when I disappeared.

Wait why was I disappearing? _Vampire stupid! You can't be around humans for a while._ Oh yeah. There was something wrong with that though. Thoughts of my father didn't feel right. I began to get agitated again, and Jasper had to whisper to me again to sooth me.

I stopped thinking of Charlie for now. Friends, he said human friends. Had I had any of those? I remembered a dark haired girl with glasses, Angela. There was a girl with curly hair; her name wouldn't come to me. Then there was a black haired boy, again no name. And for some reason a puppy boy.

Puppy boy, hmm, puppies, why was that sticking with me. I think I knew lots of puppies.

"Where is she!" a deep familiar voice yelled from the other room. He was a puppy. He was Jacob. The wolves! I remembered all of the wolves, or at least the important ones. Jacob, Seth, Quil, Embry, Paul, and Jared, they were the ones who came around the most. Paul was a dick but he was still a friend, sometimes. There were others but their names wouldn't come.

"Why did you do this?" Jacob was in the room now, his voice was much louder.

Jasper was gone again and the fire crept up my body again. I stiffened and tried to stay quiet. I focused on their conversation.

"I had to!" Jasper yelled at him.

"You broke the treaty!" Jacob sounded like he was crying.

"What did ya want me to do let her die?" Jasper was pissed.

I could hear Jacob crying openly now. I heard a loud thud and then felt an extremely hot hand on my ankle. I screamed. The hand jerked away and jasper was back. "It was just Jacob Bells. It's okay." He hugged me to him and I could feel it again.

"What's wrong with her?" Jacob sniffled.

"She's goin' through the change. It's extremely painful and nerve wrackin' but she stays quiet and calm as long as I'm touchin' her and no one else bothers her." my sweet cowboy informed him. "Ya knew it would be this way Jacob. Ya knew that she was my mate and this was the only way it was ever goin' to end. Why are ya goin' to start a war over what was meant to be?"

"What happened?" Jacob asked sounding like he was pulling himself together and ignoring Jasper's question.

"There was a vampire in her house when we go there." A deep voice with a thicker southern drawl than Jasper's that was Peter. "He attacked her daddy, and then went after her."

There had been an attack? Was Charlie okay? I waited for them to tell me but they didn't.

"Did you kill the fucker that did it?" Jacobs's voice was full of hatred.

"Yes sir we did." Peter told him. "After we questioned him of course."

"What did he give us?" Jasper asked quietly like he was trying not to disturb me.

"Ya know what he gave us Major." Peter said in an equally quiet tone.

"Well I don't so spill!" thank god for Jacob. He would ask most of the questions I wanted the answers for.

"He was sent as a scout, to find out how hard it would be to get the little bit. But he got too cocky and tried to take her his self." Peter supplied.

"Sent by who?" Good boy Jacob.

"Maria." Jasper and Peter said in unison. My body jerked. I knew that name and it wasn't a happy one. I searched back through the memories of Jasper. They were the easiest to get to. Maria made Jasper. She had forced him into a horrible life. And now she was coming for me, or she wanted Jasper back and she thought taking me out of the equation would get him there.

I heard the three of them yell out as my anger welled up. I got it back under control quickly. I didn't understand how I was doing that but it was really starting to freak me out.

"What the fuck is that!" Jacob yelled.

"It's Bella. It happens when she gets angry." Jasper told him in what sounded like a tired voice. I was making him tired. I didn't want him to suffer through this with me.

It was quiet for a long time. "We won't start a war over this. It was unavoidable." I heard Jacob say sadly. "But the pack will be surrounding your land. If she tries to get to town, to the humans before you can get her trained properly we'll try and keep her occupied until you guys can get her under control." When he spoke again he was farther away. His voice was quieter, and even sadder. "But you know if she kills, not even I will be able to stop the pack before they shred her."

"Thank ya Jacob." Jasper sounded so very tired.

I locked my body down. I would not move, I would not scream, I would not get angry again. I ignored their conversation and concentrated on my memories. I concentrated on Charlie. I tried to remember the attack.

Toby, his name had been Toby. I couldn't bring up his face though. It was just blank. He had been in my room. I remembered Charlie coming in, but after that it was blank. There was nothing. How had he gotten in? Why hadn't Jasper been there? _Because he left you stupid._

Jasper had said he'd only left because he'd hurt me. He and Edward had knocked me through a window. I remembered now. I had to work hard to control the anger when I thought of Edward. Jasper left and I was in pain. That's all I could bring up right now. Why wouldn't my brain work right?

It didn't matter anymore. Even though Jasper was touching me and I could feel him trying to sooth me, the fire was growing. It was getting worse by the second. I couldn't hear anything; I couldn't feel anything but the fire. I concentrated on not moving, on not screaming. I didn't want Jasper to suffer with me. Don't let him feel it, please don't let him feel it. I kept repeating it to myself.

Jasper's

What the hell! I jumped up and began shaking her. "Bella. Bella!"

"Jasper what is it?" Carlisle asked. Everyone was in the room now.

"Jasper stop shaking her!" Rose yelled at me.

When I didn't stop and I didn't respond to them Emmett and Peter came up and pulled me away from her. "No! There is something wrong! I can't feel her anymore!" I couldn't feel her emotions anymore; I couldn't feel the pain she was feeling anymore. She was just gone.

I tried to twist out of their grips but I couldn't. Carlisle went to Bella, he checked her over. "Jasper calm down she's fine."

"I can't feel her though. It's like she's not there anymore." I calmed down enough at his words for Emmett and Peter to let me go.

"Well what happened?" Esme asked.

"We were just sitting here talkin' and I could still feel here emotions, she was confused, for a moment and still hurtin' but not as bad while I was touchin' her. And then she was just gone. Her emotions vanished." I stepped up next to her and grabbed her hand. I still couldn't feel her.

"Jasper calm down." I looked over at the others. They were all looking anxious. I'd lost control and they were all feeling my panic.

I reeled it in quickly. "Jasper, she's a shield." Emmett said like it should make some sort of sense to me. "She's becoming one of us, it'll strengthen. She's probably blocking you without even knowing it." why did he have to be so damned smart all the time.

I calmed down a little more. He was right. She was still alive. I could hear her heartbeat. She was still going through the change. I could handle this I could be strong for her. I just hated that I couldn't feel her. So far every vampire she'd come into contact with besides me and Charlotte hadn't been able to use their power properly on her. I had loved that I could. That she and I had that connection. I had loved it even more when Rose told me that Bella could feel me to. Now it was gone and I felt alone and empty the way I had on that damned train.

The next two days were torture. I hadn't been able to feel her once. She just laid there unmoving. It wasn't normal. I'd seen many people turned and not one had ever been able to endure the pain like this.

She was almost done now. Her seventy-two hours were almost up. Although most of us were speculating on if it would even take that long. She'd developed her strength and her shield so quickly, and then first thing on the second day she began her physical transformation.

She was absolutely breathtaking. I thought she'd been beautiful before, but now she was even more stunning than Rosalie, which I knew for a fact that almost every man who was graced with her presence would fall to worship at her feet if she commanded it. Luckily my sister didn't care what other men thought of her. She only had eyes for her Emmett.

Bella's smell was intoxicating. The urge to claim her was almost unbearable. Emmett was making fun of me every chance he got. Poking fun every time he caught me staring at her, he called me a perv every time he saw me running my fingertips over any skin that wasn't covered by clothes.

Rose had to finally make him leave when I'd gotten fed up with it and lunged at him. Luckily Peter caught hold of me before I could do any damage.

"Careful there lover boy, the big momma wouldn't like ya messin' up her house." he chuckled.

I stood around anxious as her heart beat began to speed up. It was impossibly fast now. Then it began to slow suddenly. Still she didn't move. The slowing beat became erratic. Soon it slowed to only a beat per minute.

Her body arched up off the bed and she let out a blood curdling screech. Her heart didn't beat anymore. There was no movement at all as her body relaxed onto the bed. Several nerve wracking moments went by and she didn't move. Why wasn't she moving?

I began to panic but I pushed it down, I didn't want her to feel that when she woke and touched me. "Come on baby, open those beautiful eyes for me." I said taking hold of her hand.

Her reaction to my touch was instantaneous. She jerked her hand away from me and leaped up into a crouched position on the bed and growled at me. And fuck me I thought it was the sexiest fucking thing I'd ever seen.

Bella's POV

Please don't let him feel it. I kept repeating it until I couldn't control my thoughts any more. I began to wonder through random memories. They began to run together until nothing made sense. Jasper with Alice in the parking lot when I first met them, kissing Edward in my room, kissing Jasper in the lake, Playing games at the Cullen house, Jacob shifting in front of Charlotte and Peter, Cooking dinner for Charlie, The party. Edward telling me that Jasper and Alice were doing things as a couple again. The party Jasper wanted Alice, Jasper and Edward fighting. Jasper leaving, How horrible it had been while he was gone. Toby attacking us.

Jasper wasn't there. He left me. My brain began putting things together all on its own. I wasn't sure if it was right. But I couldn't think straight. All thought fled my brain all together. My heart beat sped up painfully fast. The fire was all over me now. My heart slowed again but it was sporadic. I didn't know if this was normal. I was scared. It slowed more and more. Was I dying?

The fire began receding from my body starting at my fingers and toes, then working its way up my arms and legs. Finally the fire, I felt relief flood through me. Then it attacked my heart. I couldn't hold it in I screamed.

I was conscious of everything in the room. Every smell every sound. I could feel the air currents in the room shift and move when someone in the room would move. Eight people in the room, no not people, there were no heart beats, no breathing. Vampires.

I stayed still. My brain was functioning faster, and on so many different levels. I knew the vampires in the room, somewhere in my head there was a voice telling me I was okay, I was safe. Then there was another voice that was screaming at me to run, there were other predators in the room. Then at the same time I was wondering who the hell put these uncomfortable scratchy clothes on me. My skin was sensitive. I wasn't even moving and I was sure I could feel every stitch in the fabric. I could smell so many things, flowers, cleaners, sawdust, and fruit. The smell of fruit was still appetizing. There was another smell now though as the air currents in the room changed and something wonderful wafted towards me, leather, spice, and a faint sweet citrus smell.

The sent was almost irresistible. It made things low in my body tighten. I could smell my own arousal. It was embarrassing. I knew the others could smell it as well. The smell came closer and I wanted to wrap myself around whatever it was.

All thought fled my brain and my body took over on its own when someone spoke "Come on baby, open those beautiful eyes for me." and then took hold of my hand.

My eyes flew open, and I jerked away. I was crouched on the bed, staring into Jasper's beautiful face. I was in a state of shock. It was like I was seeing him for the first time. My human eyes hadn't done his beauty justice. He was utterly perfect, except for a half hidden crescent shaped scar on his throat. Someone in the room was growling. It took me a moment to realize it was me.

"Isabella, please don't stand on the bed dear." My gaze shifted. There was a large group of vampires standing near the door. I knew them all. I had to get my thoughts organized and function properly.

The one who had spoken was Esme. I stood and stepped off the other side of the bed away from everyone, in one fluid motion. I didn't even stumble. "I'm sorry momma." Momma, why the hell did I call her that? My voice fascinated me. It wasn't my voice anymore. It was beautiful and tinkling like Alice's but I had more base to my tone than she did, I wasn't high pitched.

"It's quite all right honey, I understand." And she did. She'd gone through this at some point. It was getting easier to process all the thoughts racing through every second. I just had to prioritize them. I put all thoughts on the back burner other than what I needed right at this second. I had eternity to come back to them now that I was immortal.

Jasper started to come around the bed and made it to the foot of the bed before my body took over again and I growled. He stopped. "It's okay darlin'. I'm not goin' ta hurt ya." Why did I keep growling at him? Was I mad at him? One of the voices in my head screamed at me. _Yes he left you and your father was attacked!_

My father! "Where is Charlie?" if I was done baking he should be about there as well.

Everyone in the room tensed. "Bella," Carlisle stepped up around Jasper, I didn't growl at him. "Do you remember what happened to you?" he made it to a foot in front of me before I flinched and gave a small growl. He stopped and put his hands up in front of him in a surrendering gesture.

"Toby." Was all I said. I trusted Carlisle but I my body was very tense with another vampire this close to me. It was a little hard to hold onto the thought.

"Yes, Toby attacked you. He attacked Charlie as well." Carlisle had a look on his face that said he didn't want to be the one talking about this.

Peter was just suddenly beside me. I growled at him and he thumped me on the nose. "Stop that!"

The fucker thumped me! There was a loud deep laugh from across the room. Emmett was laughing at me. "What the fuck are you chuckling at tiny giant?" it sounded like my voice had dropped and octave and I glared at him.

He lost the big grin immediately. "I just thought it was funny to see where you got that trait from." I held his gaze for a second before he dropped his eyes and studied something fascinating on the floor.

I turned back to Peter and snarled at him. "Actually I picked that one up from her." he said as he retreated a few steps. "And right now I'm wishin' I hadn't done that." he put his hands up in the same surrender gesture Carlisle had when he'd approached me.

Jasper came around the end of the bed to stand with Carlisle and Peter. I snapped my attention toward him and growled at him. They were making me feel trapped. One thing at a time Bella. Charlie. I pushed the uncomfortable feelings to the side for now and concentrated on my father's whereabouts.

"Where is Charlie?" I asked again slowly.

"He didn't make it darlin'." Jasper's voice was sad.

What he said sunk in. they hadn't saved my father. They let him die. My brain would accept that my father was really dead. I had to see it for myself. I had to go to the house.

I started forward going for the door, but Peter caught me around the waist. "No ya don't little bit." My body reacted again. I grabbed the arm he'd wrapped around my waist and shoved my body back into his. I jerked forward on the arm forcing him to fly around me. I used his momentum to toss him into Carlisle and Jasper. I threw him so hard that they all went flying back into the wall between the bathroom and closet.

Emmett was there next, trying to wrap his massive arms around me. I grabbed them both and tossed him up over my head and into the window.

"Damn, I just replaced those to." I heard Esme say as I followed Emmett out the window and ran across the yard in the direction of my house.

I could hear everyone behind me. They were chasing me, screaming for me to stop. Just before I hit the tree line on the other side of the drive way I saw Jacob, Embry, and Quil come out of the trees.

"Bella stop!" Jacob got out before I hit him hard with my shoulder sending him flying into the other two boys. I didn't stop to see if they were okay. I just kept going. I had to see Charlie. I had to know that they were lying to me. My father couldn't be dead, he just couldn't be.

"Bella stop there are wolves surrounding the property!" someone yelled. I didn't care.

I ran as fast as I could, hitting the road and crossing to the forest, then turning and running for my father's house. I was moving so fast, things weren't blurred though. I could see every detail. I could see dew drops on the grass. I could see tiny dust motes in the air. It was amazing.

I was pulled out of my amazement quickly when I saw the first giant fuzzy dog. He was huge and dark silver. I knew that wolf. He was jerk. He was Paul. I'd only seen him once in wolf form down at the reservation, I'd seen all the wolves in wolf form at least one. But Paul was the only one who constantly made ruse comments about me being friendly with the vampires. I remembered exactly what he looked like in puppy form.

He ran at me head on. When he lunged forward I let my body take over again. I jumped over him, then turned and planted my foot in his side sending him rolling across the ground with a loud yelp. I turned and kept running.

I was going to make it. I was almost there. When I hit the tree line to the side of where the house should be I stopped.

I sunk to my knees with a cry. There was no house. Everything was gone. It was burned. There were only a few charred beams still standing. They were telling the truth. There would have been no reason to burn the house down if there wasn't something to hide.

Charlie was dead. My father was gone. I fell to my side and curled my body in on its self. I felt numb. This was my fault. My father was dead because I brought my world into his house. I knew the others were there. But I didn't respond to them. My whole body seemed to shut down. Every thought in my head was of Charlie. I'd failed my father. I'd let him die. I hadn't even gotten to really make up for being a horrible daughter. I felt some one pick me up and I was wrapped in that wonderful leather, spic, and citrus scent. It brought me no comfort. My brain shut down except for memories of my father. They cycled through my head like old pictures. Pictures that had burned and I'd never see again.

Jasper's POV

"She fucking fast!" Edward complained just barely behind me. I was pushing myself as fast as I could and I still couldn't catch her.

"We have to get her before she hits town!" Rosalie yelled further behind me. "She won't be able to control her thirst!"

The others just continued to yell for her stop and come back. It was useless. On top of being a stubborn woman she was a newborn and was ruled by her whims and instincts.

When I spotted Paul fear shot through me. He'd been over once or twice with the other wolves but he'd never really made his distaste for us a secret. I worried he'd hurt her. But I couldn't help the proud smile that spread across my face as she leaped over him and then turned and kicked him far away from her. Even without training my baby was a bad little vampire.

We finally caught up to her and she'd stopped herself. I hated this. I knew my mate shouldn't be seeing her home like this. I knew she had to be in pain. I wanted to help her but I still couldn't feel her. she dropped to her knees with a cry and I wanted to claw my heart out of my chest, it hurt so badly for the pain she must be feeling right now.

She fell to her side and curled up in a ball. There was nothing I could do for her until she dropped the shield she was using to block me. So I scooped her up and took her back home.

"Well at least no one saw her." Jacob was saying to Carlisle as I sat Bella down on the living room couch.

"Would Paul like for me to take a look at his ribs for him?" Carlisle asked. He was forever the concerned caretaker.

"Nah, he's already most of the way healed. She only cracked a rib or two. He'll live." Jacob chuckled, and then winced. "You could take a look at me if you want though."

Carlisle took him and his two smaller shadows with him into his study to make sure Bella hadn't done any real damage. Esme was cleaning up Bella's room. She'd put a huge dent in the wall with Peter, Carlisle, and me. Then there was the window that poor Esme had just had replaced. Emmett and Edward were taking out the broken window and Charlotte and Rose had gone to pick up a few new ones. They were instructed to buy extras, just in case Bella lost control again.

I stayed with my mate. She just sat on the couch where I'd placed her staring into nothing. I'd heard of vampires that had sat still for so long that they started to petrify. Surely she'd snap out of if before that happened.

Hours went by, she still hadn't moved. Jacob had come back again to check on her. She didn't respond to him. She just stared off looking like a statue.

I moved to crouch in front of her on the balls of my feet. I ran a hand over perfect pale cheek. "Bella baby, I need ya to come back to me." I begged her. "Please Bells I can't survive without ya." she continued to just stare. Looking past me at something I couldn't see.

I tried a different tactic. I leaned forward and kissed her. She was no longer warm when I kissed her. She was the same temperature as me. There was no beautiful rosy flush to her cheeks when I pulled back. Those weren't the things I loved about her; they had just been perks that came with the package.

"If ya would drop your shield I could help ya through this." I tried convincing her. Still nothing. "Fine!" I wasn't really angry but I had a plan. "I can't believe you're goin' to be this selfish! I can't believe you're goin' to just piss away Charlie's sacrifice for ya and spend the rest of eternity starin'off into space like an idiot!" that got a flicker of something. It moved across her face so fast and was gone though. I could get it back though.

"Not to mention you're neglectin' your mate! How could ya be so selfish as to just leave me like this!" oh shit there it was. This was such a bad plan. Whose was it again? Oh yeah mine.

She reached out and shoved me back into the TV, and roared so loud that she shattered all the windows in the living room. I started up at her in shock, as she stared down at me in rage.

"Oh god not my baby!" I heard Emmett whine looking down at the broken TV before Bella began to speak to me ignoring everyone else who'd filed into the room.

"Me leave you?" she wailed at me. "You fucking left me remember!" she bent down and picked me up by the front of my shirt tearing it and tossing me out one of the broken windows. "You fucking abandoned me! You left me in pain!" she hit me hard in the chest as soon as I got up sending me flying into a tree across the yard. "You want to feel something?" it sounded more like a sob than a scream. "How about how it felt when you left me!" she dropped her shield and I could feel the full force of the emotions behind her memory.

I hit my knees and clutched my chest. The others were right. She'd felt the pull just as if she'd already been turned. "How about how it felt when he was in my room and you weren't there!" she screeched at me, and as she remembered what it had been like with him there I felt a crippling fear wash over me. I had no idea how she'd fought him. And she had fought him at least a little. Her hands had been bloody and ripped up from where she'd hit him I assumed. "Or how about when I laid on the ground holding my dead fathers hand." She cried sadly without tears. She was remembering everything now in her anger. I felt her sorrow and defeat. I cried tearlessly with her as she pushed her emotions at me.

I deserved this. I deserved to suffer as she had. She fell to her knees and dry sobbed. She'd never be able to shed a tear for the loss of her father. I'd done this to her. I'd helped to take that ability from her.

I crawled over to her where she sat on her knees. We had a huge audience now. The wolves were there watching us, standing just outside of the tree line. All of them in human for most of them with tears running down their cheeks. Our family was standing in the yard at a loss for what to do. They clung to each other in sorrow. I hadn't meant to but I'd projected. Her emotions had been so strong that I couldn't contain them.

I wrapped my arms around her. She struggle against me for a moment but she eventually just gave up and let me hold her as she cried and screamed it out. Now that she'd dropped the shield I could have made the pain stop for her. I could have pushed happiness or calm into her. But she needed to get it out. She needed to grieve to able to move on. If I took that away from her now it would only be a temporary fix. And I wouldn't force other feelings on her unless she asked me to.

My poor mate was so broken and lost. I just had to be there for her as much as she'd let me and hope that when she came out the other side she'd be willing to let me back into her heart. For now I'd settle for her letting me hold her while she grieved.

Okay chapter 23

I really hope you all enjoyed. And I still really want your thoughts and opinions on my next story.

Please feel free to comment, review, or ask questions if needed.


	24. Chapter 25

Chapter 24

I own nothing it's all in funzies.

Bella's POV

I don't know how long I sat on the ground crying. Well dry sobbing was more like it. It felt so bizarre to be crying and have no tears. I was still sad when I was done. But I could function without shutting down again.

I was still angry at Jasper. I knew somewhere in my head that I shouldn't be. I knew this wasn't entirely fault. But I was just so angry and sad and frustrated. My new and improved brain was giving me trouble processing it all. I wanted to both push him away and jump his bones all at the same time. He smelled so good, and being near him made me feel so much better. I settled for letting him hold me.

I looked down at my hands in my lap. "Who the hell painted my nails this god awful color!" I grumbled loudly.

"Oh, got to go!" Emmett darted off from the crowd of vampires in the yard watching us and into the house to hide like a giant coward.

I didn't care enough to go after him. I shoved away from jasper, got up and went into the house and curled up on my bed. The windows were replaced again. I laid there staring out at the forest. This didn't feel like home to me. My home was gone.

"Bella?" I heard jasper ask as he came in and closed the door.

"Leave me alone." I said in a hollow voice.

"I need ta take ya ta feed honey." I felt a burning creep up my throat.

I ignored it. "I'm not hungry." and I hadn't been until he mentioned it. "Leave me alone. I'm fine." He left. I knew he didn't go far. Aside from being able to hear everything in the house, I could feel where he was. The rubber band between us stretched and pulled in whatever direction he went. But there was no pain, he hadn't left me again. He was just giving me the space.

Over the next few hours everyone came in one at a time and tried to convince me to go feed. But I didn't want to go feed. I just wanted to be left alone. I listened to them talk in the other room as they repaired the windows I'd broken in there. If I kept this up I'd have to get a job at Home Depot so I'd get a discount for the damage I inflicted on Esme's poor house.

"Do you think she's okay?" Rose asked someone in the other room.

"I don't know. But she's worryin' me. I've never seen a newborn not need ta feed." Charlotte answered her.

"She's fine!" Jasper snapped at them. "Just leave her alone. She'll feed when she's ready." He added in a softer tone. I felt an urge to go to him and sooth his worries. But I just wasn't ready for that. I wasn't sure I could forgive him yet. It wasn't all his fault, I knew that. But part of me just wouldn't let it go.

I wondered if that part of me was more angry at myself than him, and I was just keeping myself away from him to punish myself instead of him. I didn't want to think about it. I just laid there. I watched the sun go down and come up again. I wished I could sleep. When I was younger and something bad would happen I would just sleep for a day or two. When I got up and around again everything wouldn't seem so bad.

I felt bad for my mother. Renee would have already gotten the news that her ex-husband and daughter were dead. But she would have Phil there to support her. He'd get her through it I had no doubt. But I still felt the loss of her. It wasn't like the loss of Charlie. I knew she was still alive. I could peak on her from a distance. I could watch her live her life. I would never see Charlie again.

"Where is she?" I heard a high pitched voice with tinkling bells on the end. I wasn't ready to see her. I didn't know why. I just could. I got up and locked the door. The handle rattled as I sat back down on the bed.

"Just leave her alone Alice. She needs time." Jasper said.

"Well we don't really have time now do we!" she snapped at him. I didn't like that. And what was she talking about we didn't have time. All vampires had was time.

"She's not ready for this life Alice!" he snapped back at her again.

"Giver her time to adjust, give her time to fucking grieve." Charlotte snapped at her.

"Maybe we shouldn't have turned her." jasper said in a voice so full of woe that it hurt my chest the way it had when he'd been gone. "She doesn't want this life."

I heard several roars and growls from the other room and loud commotion. "How dare you say that!" Alice growled at him. Her voice had moved she was now right were Jasper's voice had been. "I should rip your throat out for talking about her like that!"

"Alice, get off of him!" Esme yelled at her.

She was on Jasper. She was touching him. She was touching my mate! She was threatening my mate! My body reacted.

I was up off the bed and I broke the knob off the door to get it open. The moment I seen Jasper in the floor, with Alice on top of him straddling him, her tiny hand in his neck, I charged at her roaring. I hit her in the side with my own body knocking her off of him.

She cried out in her high pitched voice, which by the way now that I was a vampire wasn't quite as pleasant as it had been. Now she sounded just a little shrill. "Bella, please stop." she cried out as I wrapped my hand around her neck and pinned her arms down under my knees.

I heard the others coming towards us. I didn't want them to stop me. I didn't want them to touch me. "What the fuck is that!" Rose said and I took my eyes off Alice but kept my grip firm and looked back at the others. They were a few feet from us and they couldn't seem to come any closer.

"Guess she figured out how to use her shield." Peter chuckled. He and Charlotte hadn't tried to get to me. They didn't want me to stop. They didn't really like Alice.

"Bella please let me up. I wasn't going to hurt him. I promise." Alice got my attention again. I could feel Emmett pushing on my shield. He wasn't going to get through.

"You don't put your hands on my mate ever again." I growled at her close to her face, and she whimpered. "Do you understand?" I squeezed her neck just a little tighter.

"Yes! Yes I understand!" she cried in pain.

"Bella." I turned my head. Jasper was on the outside of the shield. He was crouched down on the balls of his feet looking at me with a pleading look. I knew the question behind his eyes. He wanted to know if I'd meant it when I called him my mate. He extended a hand out to me asking me to come to him. He needed me I could feel it, like I had when I touched him when I was human. He loved me, and he was in pain at my denial of him.

I was up off of her and in his arms. I kissed him first. I couldn't resist him anymore. He was my mate. He kissed me back and wrapped his arms tightly around me. He pulled back from the kiss and buried his face in my neck and I heard him cry. I held him back tightly as well.

"Bella, baby you're a little stronger than I am right now." I let go of him and started looking him over for where I'd injured him. "I'm okay honey. Ya just have to be aware of your strength for a while." I kissed him again and tried to put ever bit of love I felt for him in it.

I heard someone clear their throat. I pulled away and looked at Carlisle. "Sorry pop." I couldn't stop touching jasper but I quit trying to grope him in front of everyone at least.

"Why don't you take her out to teach her to hunt." Esme suggested. The way she said it, it was obvious she expected much more than hunting to be going on.

"Wait here for a minute." Peter said and ran outside. I could hear him. He was talking to Jacob. "She's gonna hunt. Ya need ta get the boys off the land. We don't want any accidents."

"Yeah we'll pull back on the other side of the treaty line. But we're still patrolling the border around town just in case she gets away again." I was sad that my best friend was talking about me like he had no faith in me. And that the wolves would be ready to take me down if I slipped.

"You're good ta go." Peter came back in.

Without another word Jasper pulled me from the house, and into the woods. We ran until we came to a river. He stopped us there. I thought he would start giving me instructions on how to hunt. But he didn't.

Instead he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. It was wonderful. We didn't have to stop kissing for me to breath. When he pulled back from me it was to move to kiss my neck and my mouth didn't tingle. That one surprisingly I kind of missed.

His hands ran over my body and I moaned. My shirt was ripped off over my head. My own hands went to his sweater. I gripped a hand full in each hand and it tore away easily. I felt his body stiffen.

"What's wrong?" I asked pulling back from him.

He looked ashamed and sad. "You'll be able to see them now." He attempted to pull the sweater closed. I tried to figure out what he was talking about, when I spotted the scar on his neck. With the shirt ripped I could see the whole things now. It was just barely a darker shade than his white skin.

I reached up and ran my finger over it. I could feel it better now as well. He twitched at my touch. I leaned forward and kissed the scar. He kept ahold of the sweater though. I finally got impatient with it and shredded the sweater. Before he could get angry or embarrassed I began running my mouth over his body, kissing every scar I came into contact with. He had dozes of them; I ran my hands up his back. There were more there than what I'd felt as a human. I didn't care. He was my mate. Everything about him was sexy as hell.

"Aren't ya disgusted with them?" he asked in a soft voice. He was teetering between being ashamed and loving the feeling of my lips on his skin.

"No I think they're sexy as fuck." He growled at my naughty language. "That was sexy to."

He had no problem getting back into it again. His hands ran over the bra I was wearing ripped it in two. I pushed the remains of the sweater away. He pulled my legs out from under me and was there to catch me before I hit the forest floor.

I laughed. It had definitely not been like this when I was human. He seemed more at ease less like he was afraid to hurt me. He was enjoying himself. He laid me down and pulled the capri pajama pants off taking the underwear with them. Well at least he hadn't torn them. I'd at least have bottoms when we went back to the house. I hadn't been wearing shoes, so we didn't have to worry about those.

He laid down on top of me and ground himself against me roughly through his jeans. I hated the damn things. I reached down between us and tried to undo them but only succeeded in tearing the button off. I grunted in frustration. "It's okay baby I don't like these damn pants anyway." He bent down to kiss me again with a smile.

"Off please." I pleaded with him pulling lightly on the back pocket of his pants. He was off of me only long enough to lose his boots and pants. "You're so beautiful." I said looking at him in the second before he was crushing me back down to the forest floor.

"Ya obviously haven't seen yourself yet or ya wouldn't be callin' me beautiful. "He ran his hand across my cheek and kissed me again. "So beautiful." He breathed against my lips.

"Jasper please. " I begged him as he began grinding against me again. I was too impatient for foreplay today. His sent was all around me and it was driving me wild.

"Please what?" he whispered against my lips moving his hips to rub his full length between my folds without entering me.

"Please fuck me now!" I growled at him I didn't like being teased. I wanted him inside me now.

With a growl he moved his hips and entered me in one quick hard motion. I cried out, it felt so wonderful. My entire body felt more sensitive now. "Did I hurt ya?" his voice came out horse. He was straining not to move inside me. He was back to being afraid he'd hurt me, like I was still human.

"If you don't fucking move now I'm going to hurt you!" he didn't argue. He started moving in and out of me slowly. It felt fantastic but I wanted him to stop treating me like I was going to break.

I flipped us over and was on top of him. "What are ya doin' baby?" I began riding him fast, rotating my hips as I came down on him. "Oh god!" he closed his eyes and his hands went to my waist helping me to move up and down harder, his question forgotten in our passion. He opened his eyes and stared into mine was I rode him harder. I could feel and see how much he really loved me.

I moaned and cried out his name as he flipped us back over. He drove into me hard. "Jasper, I need…" I moaned again as he rotated his hips and hit that wonderful spot in side of me.

"Ya need what?" smiled the sexiest crooked smile down at me.

"Deeper." Was all I could get out. He complied happily. He caught my left leg and draped it over his right arm. My other leg was wrapped around his waist. He drove into me hard. My orgasm was approaching rapidly, but I still needed something. I was craving something I just didn't know what. He leaned down over me kissing me and I could feel him pushing his pleasure over me. I knew he was getting close as well.

I reached up and fisted my hands into his hair. His left hand went to do the same in my own hair. He kissed along my jaw line and down to my ear, trailing his tongue down my neck. When he got to my shoulder and bit down our orgasm hit hard. I bit down on his shoulder hard, breaking the skin. I felt him do the same and a second orgasm hit. Our mingled pleasure road us for what seemed like forever.

I had a strange feeling in my chest. It wasn't unpleasant, it was the most wonderful feeling I'd ever felt. It was like there were two ribbons stretching out between us with the rubber band. The moved out and entwined themselves together, entwining our souls together. They solidified and became one. I felt it for real then. There would be no more denying, no more running, no more insecurities. We were mates. Forever.

He continued to move inside of me until the aftershocks were gone. I laid back on the ground, not exactly tired, but definitely well satisfied. He didn't pull out of me, but he flipped us over to where I was laying on top of him now, resting against his chest, as he ran his fingers over my back lightly.

I sat up a little to kiss him and saw the bite mark on his shoulder. "Oh Jasper I'm so sorry!" it was going to be another scar.

"What for?" he looked confused.

"I bit you." I said in a panic. I didn't want our love making to remind him of his former life.

He chuckled. "It's okay baby. I bit ya to." I reached up to my shoulder and sure enough there was a very noticeable bite mark. "It's a claiming darlin'. It puts you're scent on me and mine on you from now on. This bite mark I'll never be ashamed of. I'll flaunt it proudly." He sat up and kissed me. He began moving my hips for me with his hands. I moaned into his mouth and helped him.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders holding him to me. We went slower this time. I didn't feel that frantic urge this time. I didn't have my need to claim him riding me. Vanilla or not this was the best I could imagine sex ever being. So long as it was with Jasper I didn't how kinky or vanilla it ever was. He was my mate. Mine forever.

We made love two more times before my need to feed made its self-known again. Jasper slipped his pants on and ran to the house for me a shirt and a fresh one for his self as well. He was back in less than three minutes.

Hunting wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I was faster than the other animals in the woods. I got a deer, and a large bobcat. Jasper promised to take me somewhere, where I could try out a bear or a mountain lion next time.

When we finally made it out and back to the house everyone was waiting for us on the lawn. "So how'd ya do little bit?" I thought he meant something else at first and if I'd been human I would have blushed. "I meant with huntin' ya little perv." He chuckled.

"She did wonderful." Jasper said squeezing my hand.

"Bella?" my attention jerked to Edward. I growled at him and let go of Jasper's hand.

"What do you want?" my voice sounded like it dropped an octave or two again.

"I just wanted to apologize again." he took a very stupid step towards me. "This was my fault, and…" I leaped onto him.

"Don't you fucking speak to me!" I knew Jasper and I were to blame as much as Edward but I couldn't help it my new brain definitely thought he deserved to suffer a little to. If he'd just taken no for an answer from the beginning a whole lot of pain could have been spared.

I had him pinned to the ground. "Bella I didn't mean to upset you I…" I drug my nails down his chest. They ripped through his clothes with no problem, and scraped painfully across his skin. It was odd. When I was human they all felt so hard. Like opposable granite. Now that I was one of them they were soft. The granite felt like flesh to me. Edward didn't bleed but there was a wound where my nails drug across him. They healed too quickly. I was angry at him. I felt a small flicker of fire deep inside me. I remembered Jasper saying I was hurting people. I reached down and stoked the fire, I roared to life and I spilled it down into him. He screamed underneath me.

I could hear the others coming up behind me and thought of the shield. When I thought of it I could feel it. I felt it expand out away from me blocking them from touching me. Edward screamed again. I pulled the fire back. I just thought of smothering it out and if receded from him and went back to sleep inside of me. "If you're looking for forgiveness, you're looking at the wrong person!" I drug my nails down his arms cutting him as I went. "If you hadn't been such a conceded, jerk who just couldn't comprehend the thought that a girl didn't want you, and took no for an answer from the beginning Jasper wouldn't have left, and my father might not be dead now." I stoked the fire again and pushed the pain into him. He screamed and jerked underneath me crying his sorry's at me.

"You remember that you little prick, next time you want to even think about fucking with me." I reached down and grabbed ahold of his arm and pulled hard. It took just a little more strength than I thought it would but his arm ripped away from his body. He screamed again. "And that." I got up from him and let my shield down. "Here ya go Rose. I thought you might want this back." I tossed her Edwards arm.

"Aw thanks Bells." She smiled wickedly at me. Esme and Carlisle looked surprised but didn't chastise me. Peter and Charlotte looked proud. Emmett just chuckled. Alice looked amused. Jasper looked like he wanted to go another round. He smiled that sexy crooked grin. I ignored him, for now.

"I'm sorry I threw you Peter." He hugged me. I was still a little uncomfortable with him being that close but I forced it down. He was my Peter. He and Charlotte would never hurt me. They loved me. They all did. I would just need to practice not trying to throw them around when they came towards me.

"Are you sorry for throwing me around?" Emmett asked with a wide smile.

"I will be sorry for throwing you when you get this pink shit off me!" I snapped at him holding my hands up at him.

"Okay, I'll take it off in a little bit." He chuckled and gave me a half hug.

"Are you sorry for me?" I turned to see Paul standing on the other side of the yard with Jacob, Seth, Quil, and Embry.

"No, no I'm not." I thought of being across the yard next to them and my body reacted and put me there.

"That's sort of freaky." Jacob chuckled. "Not to mention the creepy red eyes."

I put my hand to my face. I hadn't seen myself since I'd changed. "I still think you're hot as hell." Quil said with a huge grin.

I couldn't help but smile at them. They were treating me like they always would. There wouldn't be a rift between me and my pack buddies. "I'm sorry I threw Jacob at you guys."

"No problem Bells." Embry said. "At least you didn't eat anyone." We all chuckled.

Jacob stepped forward and hugged me. I hugged him back and he squawked. I let go quickly. "Oh Jake I'm sorry! Are you alright?"

"Yeah it's okay I didn't need to have those ribs anyway. They were always getting in the way." He joked. Carlisle came up and checked him over real quick. He was fine.

"Are you really not sorry you kicked me?" Paul grumbled.

"Nope. Why do you care anyway? I mean I'm surprised you're talking to me at all. You hate us." I so confused. He'd constantly told me how I shouldn't be around the vampires.

"Well I thought I would hate you once you were turned. But I just can't do it." he smiled at me. Paul had a nice smile. He should do it more often.

"What the hell are you talking about puppy?" he'd tried to take a bite out of me now he was telling me he didn't hate me.

"I thought I'd feel different about you once you were one of them. But I don't. You're still our Bella." He had his hands in his pockets and nudged me slightly with his elbow. "Beside I sort of had a crush on you when you were human. Now that you're a vampire you're the hottest fucking thing I've ever seen." He blushed. Wow what the fuck.

There was a loud growl from behind us and I turned to see Peter holding onto Jasper. I turned back to Paul. "Thanks but I think he might try and pull your tail off if you try getting to friendly."

"Yeah well when that doesn't work out you know where to find me." he winked at me, bent down and gave me a quick peck on the cheek and sprinted off into the forest as Jasper roared at him.

"You guys hungry?" I asked ignoring Jasper's anger. They followed me to the house. I stopped long enough to thump Jasper on the end of the nose as we passed. "Stop that!" he was still growling and struggling to get out of Peter's hold. "It's rude!" he just glared at me until I kissed him on the end of the nose and went into the house, my wolves minus Paul following.

Jasper followed to. He kissed me on the cheek making a face at Paul's slight scent lingering there. He pulled me into our room and we took a quick but frisky shower together.

When I came out the wolves were sitting down in the kitchen and Esme was feeding them. She made them burgers and a fruit salad. I stared longingly at the fruit. It still smelled so wonderful. I inched towards the bowel. "What ya doin' baby girl?" Jasper asked catching me eyeing the food.

"The oranges still smell good. Can I eat one?" I asked biting my bottom lip.

"Well you could but you wouldn't enjoy the stomach cramps that accompany when we're forced to eat human food." Alice said leaning against the bar next to me.

"I'm sorry I jumped on you, I think." I told her

"It's okay, I'm sorry I jumped on Jasper." she said and hugged me. She smiled a smug little smile at me. "Got you out of your funk though didn't it?" she winked at me.

She'd done it on purpose. "I could have hurt you Alice!" she just laughed at me and shrugged off my comment, so I let it go. "I really want those oranges." I grumbled.

"Oh here!" Seth smiled pulled an orange wrapped sucker out of his pocket. "Will this help?"

I took it happily. I wasn't as good as a real orange but it would do the job for now. "Is that good?" Rose asked curiously.

"Mm, hum." I said sucking on the orange flavored candy. I was so going to have to buy a truck load of these.

Jasper chuckled and kissed me on the side of the neck. "Cheeky little Bella."

"Emmett! Go find me some chocolate flavored suckers!" she snapped at him. I laughed at her. "I have been craving chocolate for the past 80 years!" she told me excitedly. "If I'd have thought about it I would have tried suckers."

"Baby if you really want something to suck on I've got…"

"Emmett if you finish that sentence you'll never get sucked again understand?" he scurried off and drove into town in search of his wife's sugar craving. Seth rode with him.

Later that night I learned how to tape and bed drywall. I felt so bad for damaging Esme's house again. I was feeling better, but thoughts of Charlie and our home kept creeping in. my new way of thinking was hard to get used to. I could feel joy at being back with Jasper and grief for the loss of Charlie and still focus on the task at hand all at the same time. But occasionally my grief for Charlie won out over everything else and I would stare off in sadness and guilt.

Alice came in during sad moment after Emmett and Jasper finished showing me how to repair the wall. "Hey Bella you want to take a walk?"

We walked slowly at a human pace down the drive way in silence for a little while. "I wanted to tell you how sorry I am." She said suddenly.

"For what?" she'd done nothing wrong.

"I should have been watching your future better." She stopped and we looked at each other. "It's just that a lot of your future is always so scattered or hidden to me. And I was watching my mate's future so intently. I didn't see your future slip away until it was too late. I should have been watching." I grabbed her and hugged her close, being careful not to crush her tiny body with my new strength.

I knew now that, that had been what had been bothering me when Alice first came back. I been slightly afraid she'd seen it happen and she'd ignored it. I knew better than that. she was Alice, she was my tiny big sister.

"It's not your fault. You guys shouldn't have had to be burdened with me the way you were." I told her.

She reached up and smacked me in the back of the head like they all did to Emmett. "Don't be stupid. You weren't a burden. You were a gift." We pulled apart and smiled at each other. "So you forgive me?"

"There is nothing to forgive. Of course you should be more concerned with your mate than me!" she was just being silly. I had no doubt I never put anyone before Jasper. An amusing thought accrued to me. "Besides you gave me your husband so I don't think I can actually be mad at you for at least the next twenty years or so." We both laughed again. "Hey by the way why didn't you bring your mate with you?"

She looked uncomfortable. "I didn't want to take a chance on him being hurt."

"Hurt how?" I didn't know what she was talking about, but my body went into alert mode. I became instantly aware of everything around me, every rustling leaf, ever noise, every scent. I understood that she was telling me there was danger somewhere.

"Calm down Bella. There is no threat here yet." Yet, so when was it coming then? "I'm going to tell everyone when we get back, but I wanted you to know first. It concerns you, you should know first." She seemed to be thinking of how to tell me. "The danger that Peter sensed in Phoenix, when he sent you here was Maria. I haven't thought about that bitch in a very long time so I wasn't watching her. I had no idea she was still recruiting. Any way she has a scout that has the ability to recognize humans who will be gifted in the vampire world. He spotted you; they were getting ready to take you when Peter sent you to us. She's had them searching for you ever since." This was just unreal. Why would anyone come searching for me. "You're very gifted Bella. You have several gifts. You have a mental and physical shield that you can project out further protecting others if you practiced with it. I saw what you did to Edward earlier, and they told me you did it during your transformation as well. Not to mention you've got some wicked self-control to have been so close to town and not slaughtered someone, and then to have gone so long without feeding after that. I don't know of any other vampire who was that controlled besides Carlisle." She just kept rambling, I was glad I was a vampire now. I could understand her when she spoke so fast now. "When he was turned it was by accident, he had to turn on his own. He had to stay quiet so he wouldn't be found by someone and kill him before he was strong enough to defend himself. Then he couldn't stand the thought of feeding from humans, he went weeks without feeding running away from populated areas and hiding in the forests. He only fed when he couldn't stand it anymore. He fed from the animals, and found our way of life."

I had a whole new respect for my new adoptive father, and really that's what he was. He would love me and care for me like I was his own. He had, had to of stayed quieter than I had to hide. And to not have someone to guide him and not harm anyone, that was extraordinary to me.

"So now that you know who's after me, can you see what she's going to do?" I asked feeling afraid. Not for myself, but for my family. I would go with her willingly if it spared them. But I didn't think I was going to get that choice nothing was ever that simple in my life.

"Not exactly she's bouncing around ideas. I think there was another scout father out that night and he brought her back the information she needed. I can't tell exactly what she wants yet. It's not just you now."

"We need to tell the others Alice. If she decides to come here we need to be ready." She agreed and we went back.

Emmett had come back empty handed so Rose was reading and ignoring his advances. He was now staring sadly at his TV again. I'd have to get him a new one somehow.

Esme was sharing some blue prints with Carlisle. Charlotte and Peter were out hunting. The drove very far away so they could find their very human prey. I wondered if I would ever have to be trained to feed that way. It didn't really sound appetizing.

Edward was up in his room sulking. Rosalie hid his arm in the forest and it took him hours to find it. The pack was still there. They were like a new permanent fixture. Esme and Emmett loved it.

Alice called everyone to attention and proceeded to tell them the bad news. Maria's decisions weren't clear, but she was coming for us at some point. She didn't know exactly when, but she'd stay with us until the danger passed. Then she'd go back to her mate. I had a horrible feeling down in the pit of my stomach. I felt like there was something scarier and a lot bigger than Maria coming, but I wasn't sure if I should voice it or if I was just being ridiculous. So I stayed quiet, clinging to my mate, taking comfort in his scent.

Chapter 24

I hope you all enjoyed. Please feel free to comment, review, or ask questions.

The next chapter will be a lighter happier one before we have to really dive into the big bad situation.

I hope this one turned out all right it was a little rushed. I wanted to get it posted today because I won't have much time tomorrow to work on it. I'm working hard on 25 now and I'll have it posted the day after tomorrow at the latest I hope, but if I get lucky and get it done tonight I'll post earlier.


	25. Chapter 26

Chapter 25

I own nothing all for funzies.

They talked for hours, coming up with possible solutions to the problem. Jasper, Peter, and Charlotte all gave their opinions on how Maria would come at us. I got more and more anxious the longer they talked about her, even with Jasper trying to ease my worries with calm. On top of that every time he touched me I wanted to rip his clothes off whether everyone was there or not.

Super self-control or not I was still having trouble. I kept breaking things just by touching them. I had hurt Jacob again just by nudging him playfully. Everyone kept assuring me that I was doing great and that they all went through it as well. It wasn't reassuring.

I was uncomfortable in my clothes. After I'd taken my shower with Jasper earlier, I'd found clothes laid out on the bed for me. It was a tight blue sweater dress, a pair of black tights, and a pair of over the calf heeled boots. Alice was definitely back. She said I should start dressing for my new body.

I still hadn't bothered to looking in the mirror. I also didn't argue about the clothes. I figured everything I tried to wear would be equally as uncomfortable, and I was sure going nude would be frowned upon.

I finally couldn't take it anymore and just went out on the back patio and watched the sun set. The pond was beautiful with the setting sun back drop. I tried so hard to be comfortable here; everyone was trying so hard to make me feel at home. But I just couldn't think of this house as home. When I was human I'd been so comfortable here, but it still wasn't home.

I heard the door open; Jasper walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. "Darlin', what's wrong?" he asked nuzzling my neck.

"I don't know." And I didn't know. I had everything I could want or need here. Why couldn't I be happy here?

"Would ya like to go hunt again?" he thought I was uncomfortable because I was hungry. "Peter and Charlotte are goin' into Seattle if ya want them to teach ya to hunt that way." His voice was tense as he asked me.

"Why would I want to learn to hunt humans?" I asked turning him his arms to look at him.

"I thought maybe ya would be angry that we were forcin' our way of feedin' on you." he bent down and kissed me lightly. "I don't want ya to think ya have to choose this life style just because we all chose it."

"You know I couldn't stay here with the family if I started feeding on humans. Would you really want me to have to leave? Do you not want me here?" I knew that as much as they all loved me and would accept it if I chose to live like Peter and Charlotte that I couldn't stay with them if I did, their way of like would be jeopardized if I slipped up and fed to close to home, or lost control and outed us. Not to mention I had no idea what the wolves might do to me if I fed from a human even if it wasn't in town. I already knew the answer to my second question but I still couldn't help asking it.

"No babe, I don't want ya to leave. I just, well…" he seemed to be having trouble phrasing what he wanted to say. He looked back at the living room through the window at the others. "Ya want to get out of here for a little bit?"

"You read my mind honey." I kissed him. "But can we with everything going on?"

"We have plenty of time before we have to worry about any of that. Give me one hour and we'll go do somethin' together and get away from everyone, okay?" he didn't wait for my answer he was just gone.

I could feel him moving around the house for a few minutes, and then the line between us started to get a tighter. He was moving away from the house. I ran around to the front to follow him. Where the hell was he going?

"Hold it right there little bit." Peter said stepping in front of me.

I growled at him. "Jasper asked us to keep ya company long enough for him to run an errand. He said he'd be back before the hour was up." Charlotte said trying to get my attention off my anger.

She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and tried to steer me back into the house but I planted my feet. I didn't want to go back into the house. It was making me edgy and anxious. "Hey Bella, do you want to see my garden?" Rosalie came out the front door to save me.

"Yes please." I pulled away from Charlotte and went with Rose around the side of the house. "Go hunt, don't worry about me I'll see you guys later." I called back to them. Hidden in the foliage around the house was a green house. She opened the door and I followed her in. "Wow!" it was like an exotic rainforest.

It was warm in the building like any green house, plants and flowers everywhere were being misted by automatic misters on the ceiling. Rose hit a button on the wall and the misters stopped spraying. "Go ahead and look around, I'm going to check on a few things." She walked off leaving me to wonder around.

It was much bigger than it looked from the outside. I wondered around the rows and rows of colorful greenery in awe. There were roses, lilies, daisies, ivies, blue bells, various colored carnations, daffodils, hibiscus, and even some Bird Of Paradise flowers. There were so many other flowers and plants on rows and row of tables and from pots hanging from the ceiling that I didn't know the names of. It was very peaceful here. It was quiet; there weren't nine other vampires, and a hand full of wolves hovering over me out here.

I walked all the way to the back where I found my Orchids. Rose had them in every conceivable color but I loved the blue, purple, pink, and green ones. I ran my finger lightly over one of the pedals. They were so soft and velvety feeling. I left the orchids and followed a sweet scent. There were several tiny orange trees with tons of small white orange blossoms on them. I loved the smell.

"I come out here when they all start to become too much." Rose said from behind me. "I noticed you looked like you could use just a few minutes alone."

"I love it in here Rose. You have a wonderful green thumb I don't even know what some of these are." I was honored that she was sharing her special place with me.

"They're my babies." She said in a slightly sad voice. "We can't have the real thing and we can't really have pets since animals seem to flee from us. So I grow flowers." She ran her fingers lightly over a bed of what looked like pansies.

I hadn't thought about that aspect yet. I couldn't have children. I couldn't give Jasper offspring. I'd never really thought about children seriously before. I remembered often having the fleeting thought that I would never have children, when I'd have to be caring for my mother like she was a child. I hadn't thought to ask Jasper if he'd ever wanted children. He wouldn't have been able to give them to me but we would have had other options if I'd been able to wait to be turned for a few more years.

My heart hurt just a little at the loss of that option. But it hurt worse for Rosalie. I knew that she'd wanted children so badly before being turned. She'd told me as much. I hated that this was her alternative.

We walked around the green house for a very long time in silence. Rosalie was different out here. I liked this side of her. She took care of her plants, fed them, watered them, and weeded them. She cared for them like they really were children, giving them all the love she was able. I knew when we left this building she'd go back to the playful, bitchy person she really was, who I loved. But I cherished this time with her. This is who she would have been if she'd stayed human. She would have been a caring, nurturing mother. I wonder who I would have been.

When we finally emerged Jasper was sitting on the front porch waiting for me. I smiled at him feeling a lot bet now that Rose had given me a little break from the others. "here." She thrust a paper sack at him. I couldn't see what was in it but I could smell orchids and orange blossoms. "If you keep raiding my house, you're going to have to build me on an addition just to house your own supply!" she snapped at him. I could help but smile.

"Thank you Rose." He kissed her on the cheek and she was gone in search of Emmett.

It was full dark now. Jasper took my hand and led me to the garage. "Don't I need to change or something?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I was dressed right for where ever he was taking me.

"Only if you want to baby." He said pulling me to him and kissing me.

"Where are we going?" I wanted to know so I knew how to dress. I didn't want to embarrass him by bein over or under dressed.

"Where do you want to go most in the world?" he led me to his area in the massive garage and pulled the cover off his cars.

I remembered driving one of them to the cabin. I remembered being in the cabin alone, laying on the bed crying. I pushed that thought away. I wouldn't let that one memory ruin our place. I bit my lip and smiled at him, "Can I drive?"

He just smiled and tossed a set of keys at me. He jumped over the passenger side door and slid into the teal two seater. I was pretty sure he called it a Cobra once. I was so excited. I got in started it and peeled out heading for the cabin. I didn't even bother with a seat belt and neither did he. There was no point, unless the thing burst into flames and we couldn't get out quick enough we'd survive anything that could happen to us in the car.

I worried as we sped through town that someone would notice me driving when I was supposed to be dead. But Jasper assured me that if anyone saw me right now they wouldn't know it was me. I really needed to look in a mirror some time. I couldn't believe I'd changed that much.

We were at the cabin in record time. It was already lit up. Well now I knew where he'd gone. "Stay right here for a moment darlin'." He ordered and took his paper covered flowers into the house.

He was back in less than a minute. I was already out and standing around in front of the car. I like the car but the light blue Barracuda was still my favorite so far.

Jasper scooped me up and carried me bridal style into the house. "Welcome home baby." He whispered before he kissed me. Everything from the last time I'd been here was gone. He'd disposed of all the candles and the dead flower pedals on the floor. There was a fire in the fire place, which was a little useless since I didn't really get cold now. But it was nice to look at.

He lowered me so I could stand. Home, not quite but almost. It wasn't Charlie's house, but it was a special place to me that I felt comfortable in. It's where jasper and I fell in love. It's where we'd made love the first time. I loved this place.

I followed the smell of orchids and orange blossoms to the bedroom. He'd gotten rid of the wilted bouquet and replaced it with a new one. "Sit done Bella, I want to talk to ya."

I sat on the edge of the bed a little nervous. I didn't want any bad news in this place. "Okay let's hear it." I braced myself for the worst.

He smiled at me feeling my apprehension. He leaned against the door frame with his arm crossed over his chest. "I love you so much." he said smiling at me.

"I love you to. Is that really what you wanted to talk about, because I'm pretty sure I already knew you loved me?" I chuckled at him.

"No ya cheeky monkey. About our earlier conversation, if ya really wanted to learn to hunt like Peter and Charlotte I would understand. Like I said, I don't want to force ya into a way of life ya don't want."

I didn't want to learn to feed like they did. I just didn't like the idea of picturing people like hamburgers. It just wasn't appetizing. I didn't judge Peter and Charlotte. They were good people they only fed from horrible people, or on occasion someone who was already dying. Charlotte had told me that once. But I wanted to know where he was going with this conversation so I played along.

"But then I'd have to leave. Do you want me to leave with Peter and Charlotte?" I didn't even like talking about leaving him behind as a hypothetical. "You'd really let me go again?"

"Hell no!" he snapped. I had to smile. "If ya wanted to feed like they do I'd go with ya." I tried to process that one. He would leave his family to be with me if I chose to leave. Was he saying he'd switch diets to, or would he just accompany me and keep his own diet? That led to; did he want to change diets? Is that why he was bringing this up? I wouldn't change diets, but I would go with him if he left. I wouldn't force him to feed the way I did.

"Are you wanting to change diets?" he looked shocked. So no he was content with his current feeding habits. "Well then why are we having this conversation? I have no desire to feed from humans. Why would you offer it to me?"

"You just seem uncomfortable and unhappy with the others. I thought that maybe you might be angry that we were forcing you to curb your appetite. Carlisle told me once that Edward left for a while once because he didn't like being told he shouldn't feed from humans."

"Well it's nice to know that Mr. Perfect isn't quite so squeaky clean." I chuckled. The prick had given Jasper such a hard time about struggling to control his thirst for humans and he'd willingly left to do just that. Oh I was going to have so much fun throwing that at him later. "And it's not my diet that's bothering me. It's being in that house with all of them. I mean I know they all mean well, but they are hovering like they think I'm going to freak and go on a killing spree at any minute. Also it just doesn't feel like home there. I know Esme is trying hard but it's just not my home." I felt like I was explaining it wrong.

Jasper thought for a long moment. "Ya feel lost because ya lost your home?" I shook my head yes at him. I didn't have to explain it right. My mate understood me just fine. He thought again. "How do ya feel here?"

"I love it here." I smiled at him.

"So this place feels like home to ya?" he stepped away from the door and came to stand in front of me.

"Not exactly home, but I'm happy here. I'm content. It's closer to home than the Cullen house." he went into deep thought again.

"The Cullen house." he repeated quietly. I hoped I hadn't hurt his feeling. Their house was the Cullen house. I was one of them but I wasn't a Cullen. I was Isabella Marie Swan. I didn't feel like a Cullen. I felt sort of lost and out of place. I didn't belong anywhere.

Without warning Jasper dropped to one knee. Oh shit. "Isabella Marie Swan, I love ya more than anything or anyone in the entire world. I was a fool for leavin' ya, and I swear to never do it again. I want to spend eternity makin' ya as happy as I'm able. I want to tie myself to ya in every way physically, humanly, and inhumanly possible." He smiled up at me and pulled the little black box that had been on the dresser the last time I'd been here out of his back pocket, opening it and holding it up to me. "Please say yes, and make me the luckiest and happiest vampire in existence. Marry me Bella?"

If I had still been human my heart would have been beating so hard they would have been able to hear it back at the Cullen house. He was asking me to be his wife. I was a little scared. I wanted to marry him. I knew that. But my mother's voice was running through my thoughts telling me I shouldn't get married before I was much older. Before I could live my life, and figure out who and what I wanted out of life. But my mother was wrong and my situation was so much different from hers. First of all I was going to live for a very long time; I'd have plenty of time to live my life several times over. Second I would never want anyone other than Jasper. We were already tied together for eternity with or without a ring, a preacher, and a party.

I looked down at the ring in the box. There was no diamond, I smiled. It was and antique silver ring with a very pretty polished oval green stone with tiny golden flecks throughout it. I shook my head yes at him. He smiled that sexy crooked smile at me.

He took ring out of the box and slid it on my finger. It fit perfectly. "It's beautiful, I love it." I told him.

"It was my momma's. My daddy bought it for her when I was born. It's a jasper stone. She said she named me jasper because I didn't have blue eyes when I was born like most babies. I had green eyes with brown and gold flecks." He smiled up and me exuding his joy. "When I left for the war she gave it to me and made me promise to give it to the women I loved." This was the most romantic moment of my life so far.

I slid off the bed and into his lap wrapping my arms round him. His hands slid to my waist and he began gathering the material of the annoying dress and pulling if up. "Wait!" I said pulling back from him. "We can't!"

"Jesus Christ women you're killing me! What? What's wrong? Ya didn't change your mind already did ya?" he gave a nervous chuckle, trying to down play his worry.

"What about your divorce?" that was my one big stipulation when we'd discussed marriage in the truck. He had to finalize his divorce from his first wife first.

He laughed and walked to the dresser opening the first drawer. He brought me back the large manila envelope. I opened it. It was the final divorce decree for Alice Cullen and Jasper Whitlock. I slid back into his lap again. "So I'm going to be a Whitlock, not a Cullen?" I liked that.

"We can use any last name ya want as long as you're mine baby." His hands were back on my waist and he was shimming the material up. "But I won't lie; I would prefer ya be a Whitlock." I tossed the paper work to the dresser and he pulled the dress over my head.

"Good." I said as he got up and laid me back on the bed and pull my boots and tights off. "I would prefer to be a Whitlock."

I was propped up on my elbow; I bit my lip and watched him as he quickly pulled his own shirt in one quick movement. He slid his own boots off and then undid his pants at a painfully slow human pace smiling wickedly at me.

I was up off the bed in a flash dropping to my knees and pulling the pants, and his boxer briefs with me. I'd never done this so I was hoping I didn't make a fool out of myself. I wrapped a hand around his thick length. He looked down into my eyes as I massaged him his own eyes smoldering. I could feel his desire washing over me. It made me shiver. I moved forward and ran my tongue over the tip of him. He swore and ran a hand through my hair.

I parted my lips and sucked the tip of him into my mouth. As I sucked more of him into my mouth I ran my tongue around the head and used my hand to continue massaging what I couldn't take in. He was just too big to be able to take all of him in my mouth. I began moving my mouth up and down the length of him, massaging him with my hand and tongue. A string of curse words poured form his lips. His hand running through my hair was now tugging at it lightly. I figured I was doing a good job.

With a growl he pulled away from me, he picked me up and tossed me onto the bed. He was on top of me and burying himself deep inside me causing me to cry out in pleasure. I wrapped my legs around his waist and brought my hips up to meet his as he pumped into me. His hands were everywhere, on my breasts, my hips, in my hair. It was like he couldn't get enough of me. One of my own hands was buried in his golden hair. The other slid down his back and over his bottom, my nails digging in slightly urging him to go harder.

He pulled away from me and sat up on his knees gripping my hips. Being able to see him moving in and out of me turned me on even more and my first orgasm hit hard making me see stars for a moment. He was nowhere near done with me yet though.

He pulled out of me and I cried out in protest, before he flipped me over and moved us closer to the top of the bed. He placed my hands on the top iron bar of the new heard board. I didn't have time to get self-conscious before he was slid his knees between mine forcing them farther apart and burring himself inside me again, one hand snaking around me to pinch my nipples slightly, the other sliding around between my legs and massaging my clit.

"Oh god!" I came again; I could feel the iron bar being crushed under my hands.

He leaned forward and nipped my ear. "I prefer Jasper, but I'll accept god just this once I suppose." His voice was deep and thick with desire.

He pulled out of me again, I cried out in protest again. I didn't want him to keep pulling out of me. I wanted to stay joined with him as long as I could. He pulled me around and laid me back down on my back. He pushed into me slowly. I was so much more sensitive now that I'd climaxed twice already. I could feel every inch of him inside me. I loved never getting tired or getting worn-out. We could make love for hours on end if we wanted to. I was pretty sure that's what he was going for.

He set a slow steady pace. I had one leg hitched up over his hip and the other was bent with my foot planted in the bed helping me to move and meet his hips with my own as he pushed into me. I wrapped my arm around him pulling him closer to me. I couldn't seem to get enough skin contact. His own hand went around me and slid up my shoulder blade and his hand gripped the top of my shoulder, his other hand went to my hair again. He kissed me passionately. I nipped his lip with my teeth when he pulled back. "I love you so much." he said staring into my eyes.

"I love you to. More than I will ever be able to tell you. I love you with all my heart and soul." He rested his forehead against mine and I the first waves of his pleasure seeping through me. His pace picked up, faster and harder. "Jasper." I moaned.

"Bella, you feel so good." He kissed me again. My body tightened around him and he lost his pace. He began moving a little more erratic and then I felt his orgasm, it flowing through me making me scream in pleasure, my nails raked down his back. I pushed my pleasure back into him and he continued to pump in and out of me, he cried out into my mouth as he kissed me.

Finally he slowed until he was just barely rocking his hips against mine. "I think we should do that lots more." My voice was breathy.

He chuckled and pulled out of me. He laid down the other side of me pulling me to lie on his chest. "We have forever baby. I'm sure we'll be doing it a lot more."

"What if you get tired of having just me or if we get tired of sex? Forever is a very long time." I really was concerned about that. Emmett and Rosalie seemed to be going strong. Carlisle and Esme were very obviously in love but they weren't as affectionate as Emmett and Rose. And Peter and Charlotte well didn't really know what to say about them. They were always near one another, but they barely touched in front of others. I had no idea what they did alone. I knew they loved each other. Maybe they'd grown tired of sex, or affection.

"I could never get tired of sex with ya darlin'. I've never met a mated pair who could keep their hands off each other." He ran his fingers lightly up and down my arm.

"Carlisle and Esme, or Peter and Charlotte?" I challenged him.

"Baby, Carlisle and Esme are just very quiet." He chuckled. I would have blushed if I could have. Talking about his parent's sex life was a little weird. "And Peter and charlotte, well they still cling to old habits." Talking about my parents was even weirder.

I realized I'd just referred Peter and Charlotte my parents. I thought about that. Carlisle would always feel like an adoptive father to me, or maybe an uncle. But Peter was who I looked at as a father figure. The same went for Esme and Charlotte. Esme was like an adoptive mother or an aunt. Charlotte was my mother. I wondered if I should feel bad for thinking like that so soon after Charlie's death.

"What do you mean?" I asked pushing the thoughts away. I didn't want to bring myself and Jasper down with sad thoughts right now.

"When a pair showed signs of being mate, we were ordered to kill them. They got very good a hiding their status. They're much better now but back when they first came back for me they would barely acknowledge each other in front of other vampires."

"Why would you have to kill them?" it just seemed so wrong. I knew he had only done what he had to, to survive though.

"Because Maria is a horribly jealous female, she wanted to make sure she was the only female in every male's life under her command. If they mated, to her it was a betrayal. She likes to pretend she's in love with them and that they are in love with her. To choose someone over her is unthinkable to her. She is of course bat shit crazy." He switched the subject quickly. "Besides if for some reason you were to become bored with our sex life we would do what we needed to, to spice it up." he smiled down at me.

"Hmm I wonder if we could possibly get kinkier than Emmett and Rose." I giggled.

He got a wicked glint in his eyes. "We could damn sure try." He turned me onto my back and leaned over me kissing me.

"How many people have you been with?" did I really just ask that on my engagement night? Wow Bella what a great way to ruin the mood.

"um," was all he said.

"Really? Is it that bad?" I was a little scared now. He was 168 years old; he might have thousands of past partners. I just had him.

"Well, I mean no, but I don't really want to talk about this right now." Now I had to know.

"That's fine I just won't tell you my number either." I smiled smugly.

He chuckled, "I already know you're number baby." He smiled back smugly.

"No you don't. You know how many people I've had full blown intercourse with. But not how many sexual partners I've had." He looked confused now.

"Ya already told me that ya only ever had a couple of dates and they didn't go well. So it's still just me." he was pretty sure of himself.

"Just so you know, now a days you don't need a date to get frisky. You just need some hormones and a willing partner." I smiled sweetly at him and batted my eyelashes.

He growled and rolled over on top of me pinning me to the bed. "How many?" he asked.

I couldn't help but be amused. "I asked you first."

He gave in. "Ya already know, Alice and Maria. And there was one more when I was still human." He grumbled

Three! He was freaking out about telling me the number three over 168 years! "You had a human sweetheart?" That thought made his being turned even more tragic. He'd been on his way back to her and Maria had caught him. It sounded like one of the tragic love stories my mother use to read. It was so sweet and so sad.

"No." he looked embarrassed. "I, um." He didn't want to tell me. "I purchased a girl in a saloon just before I went off to the war." He rushed it out and wouldn't look at me. I retracted my tragic romance theory and laughed hard at him.

"You're telling me your first time was with a hooker?" I laughed harder. I was having a very hard time imagining this god like creature ever having to purchase a girl. Surely they had been throwing themselves at him back then.

"It's not funny! I wasn't great with the ladies when I was still human. I was clumsy and awkward. " He grumbled rolling off me and laid down beside me glaring at me. "And Emmett don't know anything about it so keep your trap shut!" I laughed harder. Finally he laughed with me. "So what's your number?" we had been alike when we were human. I loved that about him. Not the hooker, but the clumsy.

"Oh just you." I said getting up off the bed and pulling his tee shirt on.

"Ya conned me!" he accused sitting up in looking at me in amused shock.

"Oh no, no. I simply pointed out that you didn't know didn't know how many people I'd had sexual contact with. You're the one who blurted out his number. And now you know my number to, one." I giggled at him.

He crawled to the end of the bed with an evil glint in his eyes. "I'm goin' to get ya for that!" he leaped off the bed towards me trying to catch me.

I giggled and squealed, turning and running from the room. I went for the bathroom. I shut the door and locked it. "Ya better open up honey or I'm gonna break the door down." He called through the door with a laugh.

"You better not hurt my house!" I called back.

I heard him playing with the door knob and I wondered if he had a key. I put my foot on the bottom of the door to brace it shut. I glanced behind me at the mirror and our playful cat and mouse game was forgotten.

It was my first glance at myself since I had been changed. I moved closer to the mirror. It was me but it wasn't. My hair laid in cascading silky chestnut waves around my shoulders. The red highlights were more pronounced. My skin was paler, and perfectly smooth. My features that had always seemed so out of place on my face seemed to fit perfectly together now. I seemed to have matured some in my transformation. My prominent cheek bones now looked like the high cheekbones models had. My lips were tinted a darker almost light red instead of pale pink, and looked pouty and sexy. Everything was symmetrical, perfect. My big brown eyes were gone; in their place were bright red ones. Gone was awkward teenage Bella.

The door swung open, Jasper stepped into the bathroom behind me with a smile on his face that faded quickly when he seen me staring at myself. "Are ya okay baby?" he put his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm not me anymore." I could pass for Bella Swans older sister or cousin.

He smiled at me in the mirror. "You're always you Bella. Ya just went through some changes and you're a little more durable now." He'd hoped his joking would sooth me. "I'm sorry honey. It's the venom. It rebuilds us, makes us into the perfect predator."

I turned away for the mirror and looked at him confused. "You were beautiful before. But the venom changes us. It makes sure you're goin' to be appealin' to you prey. Your scent, your appearance, even your voice." he ran his hand across my cheek. "If ya were goin' to hunt humans, the boys would line up to have ya drain them dry."

"Do you still find me appealing this way?" I knew it was a stupid question when I asked it. But it was just such a shot to see the extent of my transformation. I couldn't help but be a little insecure. He'd fallen in love with me looking one way and now I was another.

In answer he ripped the shirt off of me, and turned me back to the mirror. Hell even my body seemed to have matured. I should have noticed earlier when I'd dressed but I'd been too distracted by Jasper and my discomfort and my grief for my father. My breast seemed fuller, my hips a little curvier. Hell I looked like I could possibly be distantly related to the goddess like Rosalie.

I only got a moment to admire my body before Jasper bent me forward over the sink and pushed inside of me. I closed my eyes and moaned. "No! Open them I want you to see how much you appeal to me, and how much I love you no matter how you've changed."

I opened my eyes and locked my gaze with his in the mirror. We looked so good together. He massaged my breast with one hand and gripped my hips with the other. His gaze never wavered from him. I gripped the sink with one hand and braced the other against the wall. He drove into me over and over again hard and fast. When he came we rode out our combined pleasures, screaming each other's names. He bent down and kissed my shoulder. "Don't ya ever, ever think that I don't want ya, or that I think you're no appealing!" he pushed into me one more time making me moan through and after shock before he pulled out of me and turned me around to kiss me.

"Yes sir." I said in a breathy voice. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay honey, I know it was just a shock." He started to kiss me again.

"No, I mean I broke the sink." I laughed and moved so he could see. "Sorry." The porcelain around the top of the sink was cracked.

He laughed. "Well that's okay, ya cracked the wall to." he pointed to where I'd braced my hand. There was a very noticeable hand print and crack that traveled almost to the ceiling.

"Damnit!" I was breaking out special place.

"We can have it repaired." He took my hand and led me back to the bedroom and we laid in the bed facing each other for a long time talking.

"I love my ring." I told him lacing our finger together.

"I knew ya would." He kissed my hand.

"Um, not to put a damper on this whole thing but, um…"

"No I didn't ever give it to Alice." he'd read my mind. I was relieved. I loved the ring and would hate to give it up but I just couldn't see myself wearing a token of love he'd given to his first wife. "It really wasn't her style and quite honestly it never even accrued to me to give it to her. I'd forgotten all about it for years until you came along. You were the one meant to wear it Bells."

I smiled at him. "I just wished I still had the necklace my dad got me for my birthday it would look wonderful with it." It was a sad thought so I tried not to linger on it. "Oh! And the bracelet Emmett gave me. They were sitting on my nightstand when the house went up."

"Actually, they weren't." he looked very pleased with himself over something.

"What?"

"Before we had to," he let the rest of that sentence trail off. "Well Charlotte packed up a lot of things for you. I'm sure they were in with what she packed."

I sat up suddenly, "Really!" I was so happy. Not everything from my home was destroyed. I wondered why they hadn't given it to me earlier. It might have pulled me out of my depressed funk. I hoped she'd gotten some of our pictures. I would have memories to keep. Hell even if it was only the necklace I'd be thrilled. I would have something forever that would remind me of Charlie's love for me. "Let's go I want to see what she got."

He caught me and stopped me. "We can yet honey." I looked confused at him until he pointed at the window.

The sun had come up while I was occupied. It was very bright out today. We'd driven a car with no top. We couldn't go through town until it clouded back over or the sun went down. "Hmm, guess we'll just have to find something to do until we can go then."

"Guess so." He said with a chuckle.

We went to our warm lake and made love in the sunlight. It was my first real time seeing Jasper in his sparkles. He was a god, even with scars. My baby had that whole dangerous sexy thing working for him. I was in awe of my own skin as well. I was starting to come around to the way I looked. I was pretty sure I could get used to being beautiful.

"Where will we live once we're married?" I asked as we laid out drying on the bolder. We were both lying on our stomachs resting our chins on an arm, I had my other hand running along the surface of the water, and his other hand was draped across me.

"Well we could stay here for a little while in the cabin. Or we could go and stay with Charlotte and Peter for a while. I thought maybe you'd like to be near you're momma for a while." I loved that idea. I wouldn't be able to interact with her but I could watch her. "I was thinkin' for our honey moon I would take ya down to Texas and we could stay in my family home."

That sounded very nice. "You still own it?" I was a little surprised. He'd said he spent so much time in the vampire wars that I didn't even think of him having things from his human past.

"Yup but I ain't been back in a very long time." He seemed lost in memories for a minute. "I think you'd like it there. It's a lot like this place only much bigger." he motioned back in the direction of our little love nest. "It's secluded and we wouldn't have to worry about humans coming along. We could have animals if ya wanted."

"Rose said animals don't like us." I remembered out conversation in the greenhouse and that brought up something else I wanted to ask him but I'd wait until later.

He chuckled. "Most don't, or at least the ones that rose would want for a pet. But Peter and Charlotte have horses that do just fine with them. Charlotte even has a pet pig." I remembered that now. I'd seen them when I'd visited their little ranch.

"I would miss the others." and I would. They were overbearing and overprotective but they were still family. I would be sadder to loose Peter and Charlotte again, and to not be able to see Rose and Emmett often would be almost as bad. I would miss Esme, Carlisle, Alice, and maybe even one day Edward if he ever got his shit together. But the others I was closer to.

"Well Peter's been after me for a while now to show him my old homestead. And I'm sure Emmett and Rose could do with another honeymoon." He suggested.

I loved that idea, "We can't do that to Esme." When everything was over Alice would be leaving again, we'd be leaving her and Carlisle with only Edward.

"Baby I'm pretty sure that after we take care of the Maria issue, we'll all be leavin' Forks for a while."

"Why? And why don't we all just go now? Wouldn't it be easier to just leave and hide from her?" I didn't understand why we were just all sitting around waiting for her to come for me.

"Because it's time to move on, just because someone wouldn't recognize ya right away don't mean we should chance it." he propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at me. "And if we run from her now, she'll see it as weakness and she'll continue to pursue us no matter where we go. We'll be spending the rest of our lives runnin'. And I'm just saying, don't get mad at me or nothin', but you're a Whitlock now. We don't run, we fight." He bent and kissed me. "Also, Esme's never been to Texas. I think she'd like it." He had it all figured out.

"When will we get married?" I was getting very excited about this whole thing now.

"that's up to you darlin'. I'd like to be married before we have to deal with her. We'd just have to put the honey moon off for a little bit. But if ya wanted to wait we could." I wanted to be married before as well.

"Well then I guess we should start planning a quick wedding." I flipped over so I could look up at him. "Unless you want to just go to a court house and get it done quick." I would prefer the quick and simple.

He bent down and began teasing my nipples with his mouth. "I just can't get enough of ya baby girl. Every inch of ya tastes so good." He moved over me and started trailing lingering kisses down my body as he spoke to me. "I know you'd prefer we do the courthouse." He kissed his way down my stomach, and kept moving down. "But I can't get the desire to see ya in a wedding dress, and to stand up before our family and declare our love for each other out of my head." He spread my legs and draped my right one over his shoulder, his head dipped between my thighs and he began torturing me with his tongue. Moving it so fast over my clit that it was like a vibrator, he slide two fingers into me and crooked them slightly to hit that perfect spot as he worked the in and out of me making me pull his hair and scream out his name and beg for more. "Please say yes." He pleaded lifting his head for a moment before he dipped back down and slid his tongue inside of me.

"Oh god yes." I called out I just before I came, and I got an image of a little glowing ball of pleasure in the pit of my stomach. As it exploded and surged through my whole body, I wanted Jasper to feel pleasure to.

Without warning he cried out. "Oh holly hell!" and fell of the bolder.

I sat up shock and stared down at him. "How the hell did ya do that?" he looked equally shock back up at me.

"What did I do?" I had no idea what he was talking about.

He motioned to himself and noticed that he'd come as well. "Ya pushed your Pleasure into me the way I do ya."

"I don't know." I explained to him about the little ball of pleasure I picture when I climaxed.

He pulled me into the water with him and we cleaned each other up. "How did ya do it when ya made Edward hurt?"

"I could see fire inside of me and I just directed it at him." jasper thought about that for a moment.

"Think of something sad and trying push it at me." I did. I thought of my father dying. I tried to direct it at him. He felt nothing though. "Try the pain thing, uh, but don't do it too long okay honey." I didn't want to hurt him but he said we needed to know if it was just a fluke or if I had another ability.

I pictured the flame. I stoked it and pushed it into him for just a moment. He stiffened and tried not to yell but he didn't succeed. I pulled it back quickly. "Sorry."

"It's okay I told ya to." he kissed me briefly to reassure me. "Now try the other thing."

I closed my eyes and instead of imagining a ball of fire, I pictured the glowing ball of pleasure again. I pushed it at him. "Fuck me." I opened my eyes to see him with a look of extreme pleasure crossing his face.

"Are you telling me that I can cause pleasure and pain?" The pain would come in handy if I had to fight, but what the hell was I going to do with the other?

"God yes." He said wrapping himself around me in his afterglow.

"Well I suppose I could use it when I have a headache and I'm not in the mood." I chuckled.

He growled at me. "Vampire don't get headaches, cheeky little minx."

We got out of the water and made our way back up to the house. The sun was going down now and we would be going back to the Cullen house soon. I grumbled as I picked the damned dress up off the bedroom floor. Jasper jerked it out of my hands and went to the closet pulling out a forest green silk spaghetti strapped dress.

"Alice and Rose have gotten over some of the super sensitive stuff so they forget that you're goin' to be a little uncomfortable in most clothes for a little bit." He helped me slip the dress over my head. It was form fitting, but not tight or binding and the silk felt wonderful against my skin. The hem fell to just above my knees. He went to the dresser and pulled out a pair of lighter green silk underwear and slid them up my legs for me.

"Thank you," I kissed him. "When did you have time to buy this stuff?"

"I had Rose go out and buy some stuff for ya while you were bakin'." I chuckled at phrasing. I'd thought the same thing.

"I put some things here when I came out to clean up earlier. The rest are at the house." we walked hand in hand out to the car. I opted for barefoot. Alice would just be beside herself if she knew. "By the way if you want to know something a little fun you can do with your 'new ability', you could always torture Emmett. I'm sure Rose wouldn't mind."

"What do you mean?" I really didn't think Emmett would be the kind of guy to get upset if I got him off without touching him.

"Well he prides himself on his sexual prowess and stamina." He looked at me like I should be catching on. "What if ya made him think he was a little premature?"

I thought about that, and laughed. I was almost sure Rosalie would be up for torturing her husband just a little.

I let him drive back. Looked at my hand with the ring on it laced with his fingers, I guess a wedding wouldn't be so bad. Now that I was a vampire there wouldn't be any one on my side of the isle, and on his would be just the Cullen's and Peter and Charlotte, so it would still be a small affair. I wondered if he'd want a church wedding. I chuckled at that. Vampire's getting married in a church. It was just absurd. But as I looked at him and he smiled back at me, I knew that's exactly what he'd want. And I knew I'd give it to him.

I'd give him whatever it took to see that beautiful smile on his face. Just like I knew he'd do the same for me. I was feeling a little more comfortable with everything now. I felt a little more like myself. a little more durable as Jasper put it, but I was me. Isabella Marie Swan, soon to be Whitlock. I loved it.

Chapter 25

I hope you all enjoyed this one. Please comment, review.


	26. Chapter 27

Chapter 26

I own nothing all for funzies.

Beta'd by the talented ladyluck25

Jasper's POV

The whole way home I couldn't keep my eyes and hands off my mate. She was so damn beautiful. I didn't know what I'd ever done to deserve her. I slid her dress up and traced patterns on her thigh with my free hand as I drove.

I hoped to hell she'd be okay making love in our room at the Cullen house, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to wait until the next time we had a chance to get back to the cabin. I smiled and wrapped my arms around her kissing her as soon as we pulled into the garage.

I was beyon thrilled she'd agreed to be my wife. I mean, I know we were already mated, but there was a small part of me that still clung to some of my human traditions. My mother had told me that marriage was the greatest honor and commitment you could make. Of course, I'm pretty sure she didn't take into account that I'd be a monster who would find his soul mate and be mated for eternity. But I still held the tradition in my heart because it was something my mother said was important.

"Hey what happened to my truck?" she asked once we parted and got out.

Why couldn't she have asked me this a few days later? "Um, I assume it goes to your momma, when she comes for the memorial."

She looked surprised. "What memorial?"

"Since there was nothin' left in the fire, they're holdin' a memorial instead of a funeral." I hated this. She wouldn't even get to attend her father's memorial service.

"When is it?" she asked quietly.

"Tomorrow afternoon." She looked a little angry and I didn't much feel like having her make me feel like I was on fire today.

"I was gonna tell ya. I swear! I just got distracted." I tried giving her a sexy smile hoping to distract the angry beast inside my mate. Which by the way, I thought was sexy.

I couldn't help it; there must be something sick inside me because when I saw her torturing Edward, I swear I wanted to take her right there on the ground. I pushed the thought away I just chalked it up to left over horrible person residue from when I was with Maria.

She didn't hurt me.

"Can I go?" she asked instead in a small voice.

"Baby even if no one else recognized ya, or just assumed ya were a family member, your momma will definitely know who ya are. She's not gonna not recognize her own daughter." I hated to tell her no. I wanted to give her everything her heart desired.

"I wouldn't have to be seen. I just want to be at Charlie's memorial, and I want to be able to say goodbye. I'd also like to see my mother again. We don't know how long all this mess will take and I don't know when I'll get the chance to see her again." she looked at me with pleading eyes.

"We'll talk to Carlisle and figure somethin' out baby girl I promise." It was impossible to tell her no.

"Now look over there at those boxes." I pointed to the huge stack of boxes stacked up against the wall.

"I'm pretty sure Charlotte got ya everything ya might have wanted."

She bit her lip in that sexy way that I loved and smiled, jumping out of the car and tearing into the boxes. As she pulled things out I saw that Charlotte had done a very good job. It looked like she'd scoured the house and taken every picture, every last thing that looked like it would hold sentimental value for Bella. She even packed two boxes of Charlie's things, clothes, jewelry, and even his badge.

After about thirty minutes Bella's excitement started to seep away. She hadn't found the necklace yet. She'd found a small wooden box that Charlotte had put all of Bella's jewelry in, Emmett's bracelet was there but he necklace was not.

"It's not here!" she cried.

"What's goin' on out here?" Peter came out smiling.

While I watched Bella searching the boxes, I'd heard him in the house sharing his old war stories with the others. They were all riveted. The wolves in particular found Peter fascinating.

"Where's Charlotte?" she grumbled at him.

"Right here honey, what's wrong?" Charlotte came out of the house and put an arm around Bella. She was radiating concern.

"Did you pack a necklace from my night stand?" she looked at Charlotte with hopeful eyes.

"Yes, I put it in the box with the rest of your jewelry." She picked the box up and started going through it herself.

"It's gone!" Bella turned back to me, the hurt look on her face and the sorrow she was feeling broke my heart.

"I'm sure it just fell out in the truck or while Charlotte was unloadin' the boxes baby. We'll find it don't worry." I moved to her side and she buried her face in my chest.

"Oh what have we here?" Rose came out and grabbed Bella's hand looking at the ring. "Esme!"

My adoptive mother came out and immediately squealed. Everyone was in the garage now. "Does this mean what I think it does?" She asked excitedly.

Bella smiled at her. I could feel that she was still upset about the necklace but she wasn't going to let it ruin her happiness.

"When is this takin' place?" Charlotte asked. The women were giddy. The men were patting me on the back and offering me congratulations. Even Edward was on the edge of the group smiling.

Bella and I both looked at Alice. We hadn't picked a date, but since we'd decided to get married she'd be able to see when it would be. The tiny pixie got a far off blank look on her face for a moment.

"Really? Christmas day?" she asked a little surprised.

"Sounds good to me baby, I couldn't think of a better Christmas present than you. " I said kissing her.

"Just so long as it's before all hell breaks loose, I don't care when it is." She said with a wide, beautiful smile.

I could wait two months for her to be my wife. I did however find it a little uncomfortable that my ex-wife would no doubt be helping with the planning. I didn't really care though I just wanted my mate happy.

Bella's POV

"Oh Bella please let me design your wedding dress?" Alice squealed excitedly.

"Why can't we just go to a bridal shop and buy one or rent one?" The other women looked appalled at my suggestion. "Or maybe not, but I don't want you going overboard got it?" I pointed my finger at Alice knowing it was useless. I didn't want to be getting married in some huge frilly monstrosity.

She smiled a big, slightly maniacal smile.

"You already have the dress don't you?" I asked in a suspicious tone.

"Do you want to see it!" she took my hand and pulled me away from Jasper and the other women followed us.

I could still hear the guys talking in the garage from upstairs. It was slightly muffled through the walls and doors of the house but I could still hear it clearly enough.

"So you're taking the plunge!" Emmett said, "Are you sure you're ready for this?" he laughed at Jasper. Yeah I was going to have to remember to talk to Rose before they went to their room for the night.

"Emmett he has done this before ya know." Peter laughed.

"No I've never done this before." Jasper said in a somewhat dreamy sounding voice. I had to smile. "This time, it's right and it's forever." I loved him so much.

Alice got my attention again when she came out of her design room holding a dress bag. We were all gathered in her room with the door closed so Jasper couldn't see the dress.

It was perfect. It was exactly what I would have chosen if I could have found it in a store, which I know I wouldn't have. Alice had made this special just for me.

"So how long have you had this thing?" I asked admiring it.

"I put the final touches on it the day before your birthday." She smiled. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah it's perfect, but when did you start making it?" I'd only been here a month about a month and a half before my birthday. She couldn't have had time to do all this before she'd left.

"The day after I met you." she said off handedly.

Everyone in the room was a little shocked.

"Alice how long have you known Jasper and I were mates? I thought you couldn't see me clearly." I asked in a slightly irritated tone. I didn't want to be mad at her but if she'd known from the beginning and said nothing I was going to be pissed.

"I couldn't, and I still can't by the way. We should really work on figuring out how to fix that. Any way when I met you my future changed." She put the dress back in the bag as she talked. "I'd been seeing lots of things in my future, and I didn't understand any of them, and none of them were solidified. But when I met you in the parking lot my future shifted and became very clear. I was going to be leaving to find my true mate ."

"Why the hell did ya marry Jasper in the first place knowin' he wasn't your mate?" Charlotte snapped at her before I had a chance to react.

"Don't start with me right now hillbilly!"

Wow they really didn't like each other.

"I was going off what my visions were telling me! And I loved him! I still do, just not the same way! If I didn't marry him, he wouldn't come with me to the Cullens and that's where his future was supposed to be! If he decided to stay with you guys he was going to slip further into depression and do something stupid!"

"Stop fighting now or I'll lock you both in the fucking closet until you kiss and make up!" I yelled at them both, "You're not going to ruin my happy high with this old grudge bullshit! Everybody get over it and Alice finish the story!" I needed her to finish so I could decide whether to be angry or not.

Everyone looked at me shocked for a moment , then laughed.

"Okay, so I knew I was going to meet my mate. I didn't know that you two were mates, but I knew you were going to be important to him. And I knew he was in love with you the moment he looked at you. I suspected you were mates though, it didn't solidify that you were until you decided to be one of us. I started making the dress before that just in case though. I wanted it done before I left just in case I wasn't back in time for the wedding."

"Why didn't you tell me then that we were mates?" I was a little upset, if I'd known for certain that we were mates I probably wouldn't have let Edward's words get to me as bad.

"Every time I decided to tell you, I'd see it ending badly. You had to realize you were in love with him , that you were mates on your own. And I thought you had before your party. I'm sorry."

I would hate to have her gift. She had to decide what was and was not safe to tell people constantly. She could see something that could possibly be life changing for one person, and if she decided to tell them it could become life changing for another. That was a heavy burden to have to carry.

"Are you mad at me?" Alice asked looking doleful.

"Nah, you never did anything out of malice. And besides like I told you before, you gave me your husband so I kind of owe you." I couldn't bring myself to be angry at her. she was doing her best to do what she thought was right, no matter what the outcome was.

Everyone laughed.

"So, what colors are you going with Bella?" Rose asked me changing the subject.

"Um, I really don't know. I suppose I should ask Jasper what he'd like." I wanted to get married, but he was the one who wanted the big ceremony.

"Oh please, he won't care. Emmett didn't care about anything in our wedding." She chuckled.

"Carlisle listened and made comments when I showed him my plans for our wedding, but I don't think he actually made one decision." Esme smiled.

"Jasper just told me to tell him where and when to be and he'd show up. Other than that he didn't have anything to do with it." Alice laughed until she realized what she'd just said. "Oh Bella I'm sorry I didn't mean to…"

I laughed and cut her off. "It's fine Alice I know you didn't mean anything by it.' I gave her a hug for reassurance.

"Peter and I aren't married." Charlotte suddenly said surprising everyone in the room.

"Why not?" I asked. I couldn't imagine why they would never have gotten married. I knew they loved each other.

"He ain't ever asked." She sounded a little sad.

"Do you want to be married lil momma?" I decided that since I'd already referred to both her and Esme as momma at some point that Charlotte would be lil momma, since she was so much more petite than Esme. And Esme would be big momma, just because Peter called Carlisle big papa.

"Well yeah, but I'm not goin' ta push it. I'm happy just bein' with him." she smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

I walked to the door and opened it; Alice quickly put the dress back into her design room and smiled at me knowing what I planned to do.

"Hey daddy get your ass up here!" I yelled down.

"Bella!" Esme and Charlotte both scolded me. "The language in my house is getting worse by the second." Esme chuckled.

"Sorry."

"What's all this ruckus about?" Peter and Jasper came into the room first. Peter was smiling his normal big goofy grin. Emmett, Carlisle, and Edward were in the hall looking in through the door. I could hear our four wolves at the foot of the stairs. They probably weren't sure if it was okay for them to come up. Oh well I knew they could hear what was going on just fine.

"Why aren't you married to my momma?" I demanded and he lost his smile and looked extremely shocked and nervous.

All the guys burst into laughter.

"Well I, um, I mean… uh." He was fidgeting nervously. He looked to Charlotte for help but she just gave him a smile.

"Well answer the girl." She told him with a smirk.

"Shut up!" He snapped at the guys as they continued to laugh. He went to Charlotte. "Baby, do ya want ta be married?"

"Of course I do stupid! Why wouldn't I want ta be married ta the man I love?" she crossed her arms across her chest and glared at him.

"Well. how come ya didn't say somethin' before now woman ?" he demanded.

"Why didn't ya ask before now ya redneck fool!" she demanded back. "I shouldn't have ta spell everything out for ya!"

He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked around nervously at everyone. Then he dropped to his knee in front of her and took her hand. "Please marry me baby?"

Jasper came over and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"You're such a little trouble maker." He chuckled.

"Hell no!" Charlotte said with a big smile. "You get up off this floor, get a ring and do it proper!"

"So very much a trouble maker!" Peter grumbled as he stood up and kissed charlotte. "If I ask ya again and ya say no, I ain't askin' again!" he warned her.

I saw Alice behind Charlotte mouthing the words, she'll say yes, and giving him a little thumbs up. "I know what you're doin' back there and ya better quit!" Charlotte snapped at Alice.

"So Bella, did ya break the cabin, or was it too vanilla?' Emmett asked out of nowhere.

I ignored him. Jasper did not.

"It was the best damn sex you'll never get ta try bubba." They shared a laugh, but cut it off quickly as Rose and I glared at them.

Once everything was calmed down, I asked Rose to go to the green house with me. I wanted to get the Emmett project under way quickly.

"I want to do something mean to Emmett." I informed her.

"I want to do mean things to him all the time." She laughed, "But what did you have in mind?"

"I seemed to have developed a new ability." I grinned wickedly at her.

"What?" She looked a little nervous now.

I thought about it, then asked permission to use it on her instead of telling her about it. She agreed after I promised it wouldn't hurt.

I imagined the little glowing ball and pushed it into her. Rose hit her knees with a loud moan and a look of ecstasy on her face. She smiled up at me when I pulled it back.

"And you want to do that to Em? How is that going to be mean?"

"You're going to take him up stairs, get him all hot and bothered, and I'm going to do that. He'll think he's premature." I giggled.

She giggled with me.

"You're an evil little bitch Bella." She laughed again. "I love it!"

We made our plan. We would wait for Carlisle and Esme to go into town in a little bit and we'd do it then. Jasper and I were waiting until after we had our fun to tell the others what I could do. Rose promised she'd keep the secret as well. She was just a little too into torturing her own husband, but I loved it.

Esme and Carlisle left looking very nice. They were on their way to a charity auction. Esme helped organize many charities. They were always going off to grand parties full of rich people and donating thousands of dollars. I like that she was so into helping people. I wondered when I would be able to start helping her with things. Probably not until after we'd left Forks.

Jasper talked to Carlisle while I was in the green house with Rose. He said that if I wore a wig and sunglasses, and stayed out of sight, I could go. They would all be going with me to make sure I didn't try to eat anyone.

I was in our room reading when I heard Rose put things in motion. "Mmm, Emmy, come up stairs with me please?" She purred at him from the living room.

"Hey, Peter, Charlotte come here." I heard Jasper call and then the three of them came in.

Jasper was practically jumping around like an excited little kid.

"What the hell is goin' on?" Charlotte asked.

Jasper put his finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet, and mouthed, 'Just watch.' They both stayed quiet and still waiting to see what would happen. I sort of felt pervy purposely listening to Rose and Emmett get frisky. But the fun would be worth it I was pretty sure.

I waited until things were about to get extremely heated and I stood up on the bed and pushed my imaginary ball of pleasure up through my ceiling and into Emmett. I accidently got Rose again also, but I was pretty sure she wouldn't mind.

I heard Emmett moan in pleasure and then, "What the fuck!"

"Uh, Em, honey, what happened?" Rose was a good actress. "We haven't even started yet!"

"I don't know!" He yelled back at her. He sounded embarrassed and a little angry.

"Aw Em, it's okay it happens to a lot of guys." She told him sweetly.

I heard Alice start to cackle in her room. Charlotte and Jasper both burst into laughter. I even heard Edward give a little chuckle.

I focused on him and pushed a little flicker of my fire into him. I heard him yelp.

"Rude!" he yelled at me.

"Suck it up bitch!" I snapped at him and he went back to being quiet and brooding. I would eventually have to stop torturing him, or he may do something drastic. A few more days of torture, or maybe a few more weeks, I'd get Jasper to watch his emotions to make sure he wasn't getting to depressed.

When I looked down at the others smiling, I noticed Peter staring at me with his mouth hanging open.

"Pick it up off the floor daddy or it'll get stepped on."

The conversation in the kitchen with Charlie the first time Jasper had taken me to the cabin came back to me with a pang of sadness.

Jasper helped me off the bed and kissed me. "

It's okay baby." I hadn't been aware that he'd heard my entire conversation with Charlie before he'd knocked on the door that day, but he obviously had and knew exactly what had triggered the sadness.

"Don't think of it like that, hold the memory in you heard as a good one. Don't let it get you down." I smiled up at him

"What's going on?" Jacob came in yawning and rubbing his eyes. He'd crashed in the spare bedroom, just before Esme and Carlisle had left. The other wolves headed home.

"Bella got a new ability today." Jasper whispered to him. He looked confused and waited for us to explain.

Peter and Charlotte hadn't commented on my sudden mood swing. He went a different route, not wanting me to dwell on whatever had caused it.

"When did ya learn ta do that ya little hellion?" he whispered to me with a smile.

"It's not okay! It doesn't happen to vampires! And it damn sure doesn't happen to me!" Emmett yelled above us and we all burst out laughing again. He was too preoccupied to be listening to us.

"What the hell?" Jacob looked up at the ceiling. "What the hell did you learn to do Bells?" he whispered.

"At the cabin today. This is the only use I could think of for it other than for personal use." I told Peter and winked at Jasper.

"Come on Rose let's just try again." I heard Emmett say quieter.

I quickly jumped up on the bed and waited a few moments. "Watch Jake." He was getting that irritated look on his face at being ignored. I waited just a few a moment, just long enough for Rose to start touching him again.

"Jesus Christ! What the hell is going on?" We all burst out laughing harder.

"Shut up!" Emmett yelled at us.

Then Edward decided to do something stupid.

"Bella is doing it Emmett!" Edward called from his room.

"You little snitch! I'm going to kick your ass!" I yelled at Edward and sent a quick burst of pain his way. He yelled.

I head Emmett moving fast. I squealed and ran out of the house giggling.

"Get back here you evil little witch!" "Em, come on it was just a joke!" Rose was laughing from the front door of the house. Peter, Charlotte, Alice, and Jacob were there laughing as well.

Jasper was on Emmett's tail.

"Don't hurt her ya big bully!" he grabbed for Emmett who dodged him.

"I'm the bully? She's screwing with my mojo!" Emmett grumbled.

I laughed and leaped up onto a high tree branch just as Emmett was making a grab for me. "Aw come on Em, it happens to a lot of guys sometimes." I egged him on.

"When I get a hold of you, I'm going to make you pay!" he leaped up into the tree as I leaped for another tree. This was fun.

"If ya touch her I'll rip your arm off and hide it for a week!" Jasper was still on his tail, but Emmett was pretty agile for a big guy. He kept managing to stay just out of Jasper's grasp.

We continue for a long time, Emmett chasing me, Jasper chasing Emmett. Emmett even started laughing. I was having a good time.

I leaped out of a tree and landed in the yard. Emmett got his arms around me and tackled me to the ground. He didn't stay on top long. I was strong for the time being and flipped us over and pinned him to the ground.

Jacob was laughing hard with everyone else now. Someone had clued him in on all the specifics finally.

"That's what you get for painting my nails pink!" I laughed at him as he continued struggling to get up but I was too strong for him.

"Dude you're getting your ass kicked by a girl!" Jacob laughed at him.

"Shut your trap! You try getting away from her, she's freaking strong!" Emmett grumbled at him. I finally let him up.

"It's just Bella, how strong can she be?" Jacob chuckled again.

I arched an eyebrow at him. I could wrestle with Jacob in human form I would chance hurting him.

Jasper handed me a rock just small enough for me to get my fingers around. "Show him how strong you are baby."

I walked over to him and held the rock in my palm showing it to me. He just smiled at it smugly. I closed my fingers around the rock and squeezed. When I opened my hand again I leaned forward and blew the dusty remains of the rock at him.

"Whoa, that's cool." He picked up a larger rock and handed it to me. "Do it again!"

Why were most of the men in my life giant children.

As I used both hands to grind the rock into dust Emmett asked, "Can I please go have sex without you jacking with me again?"

"Sure, go screw your brains out if Rose will let you." I laughed at him.

"Alice," I heard Jasper say and we all turned to see her with that far off blank stare.

Alice's POV

It was clear. She'd decided.

Maria was already in Italy.

"Ah, Maria," Aro stood from his chair next to his brothers' on the raised platform in the throne room. "What brings you for a visit? It's been so long." He put his hand out to and waited for her to take it.

Maria ignored his hand.

"Aro, Marcus, Caius." She greeted each of them with a nod. "I have business to discuss."

Aro dropped his hand when she didn't take it.

"As always, straight to the point sweet Maria." His tone remained pleasant.

"State your purpose!" Caius snapped at her.

"I'm here to ask your assistance and to offer you something in which I think you'll be quite pleased with." She smiled what she thought was a sexy smile but it looked more crazy than sexy.

"And what could trash like you possibly be able to offer us?" Caius was seriously not a fan.

Maria snarled at him.

"Now, now brother, let us hear her out." Aro scolded his brother's rude behavior. "Now first things first, what is it you request from us sweet Maria."

"I want your assistance in taking out the Olympic coven." She said it like she was asking for a cup of sugar.

"And why would we want that? Carlisle Cullen is a dear friend." Aro still looked so pleasant and calm with the conversation.

"Because he has something that you want." She said it with such certainty.

"And what is that?" Caius snapped trying to get her to the point a little quicker.

"He has a telepath and a psychic, both of which I know you covet." She smiled like she knew she had them right where she wanted them.

The vision of the battle was murky. There were scenes of many of us lying dead, there were scenes of Edward, Jasper, Bella and I in the Volturi guard. There were pictures of us on the run, and so many more. They were blurring together and I couldn't make sense of any of it and decide what our best course would be, or where it would take us. I would have to wait for their answer first then I could see what was going to happen.

We were in trouble.

Jasper's POV

"Alice, what did you see?" the fear pouring off her what almost crippling. She didn't say anything. She began staring off again trying to see something else.

Edward came flying out of the house. "Oh my god!"

"Well don't just stand there jack ass, what's she seein'?" Peter yelled at him.

"Maria has decided to go to the Volturi. She's going to ask them for assistance in killing everyone, aside from Jasper, Bella, Alice, and myself. "He told us but never took his eyes off Alice.

If I had blood it would run cold. I wrapped my arms tightly around my mate. She was coming for us, and she was going to have the help of the most dangerous monsters in our world if they said yes. I wanted to take her now and run. I was ashamed of myself, but if I really thought it would keep her safe I would take her, run, and never look back. I would tell the others to do the same to take their mates and scatter. We would be harder to find it we separated. But I knew she would never do it. And I knew I would hate myself for the rest of my existence if one of them died and I wasn't there to try and stop it. Then there was the problem of me being a Whitlock, and Whitlocks don't run.

"Surely Aro won't agree to that!" Rose said, but she wasn't sure. They were all emanating fear, except for Bella. She was just confused.

"He would and ya know it." Peter told her.

"What are we going to do?" Edward sounded like a frightened little brother asking his big brother what to do when the boogeyman comes.

Everyone just stared at each other for a long moment. No one knew what to do.

"Nothin'." I said.

"What? How can we just do nothing?" Edward squawked.

"Because we don't know what Aro will say yet. We won't know what to prepare for until Alice sees it. So we're goin' to go in the house and live our lives like they should be lived. There's no point in getting all riled up until there is somethin' to get riled up about."

Everyone just looked at me trying to decide if I was right. But they all relented and decided I was right. We went back in the house and tried to live our lives.

Chapter 26

I hope you all enjoyed I'm not sure this one turned out quite the way I wanted it to but I didn't want to keep sitting on it. So I'm working on the next chapter and I'll post as soon as I can.


	27. Chapter 28

Chapter 27

I own nothing, all for funzies

Beta'd by the lovely LadyLuck25

**Bella's POV**

We went in and nobody did as Jasper had suggested. Rose and Charlotte sat on the couch looking scared. Emmett sat on the stairs staring at the floor. Alice curled up in a chair and looked lost. Jacob went to the kitchen and started eating. He was always a nervous eater. Edward paced the floors looking scared. Peter and Jasper stood in front of the large window just staring out.

I was confused about this whole thing. I mean I knew Maria coming for us wasn't a good thing, but I had no idea who the Volturi were. I couldn't remember if Peter had ever told me about them over any of our late night talks. I wanted to ask about them. I wanted to know why everyone looked like we'd just been handed a death sentence. But now wasn't the time.

Everyone was already stressed and scared without me questioning them.

I watched Edward pace back and forth several more times. He was making more nervous than anyone else. He looked like a scared little boy.

"Edward!"Jasper yelled at him startling me. Edwards's eyes jerked to Jasper and he stopped pacing.

"Come with me." he said in a quieter calmer tone, and moved to the front door waiting for Edward to follow.

"Jasper,"I started to ask him was he was planning to do but he cut me off.

"Don't worry darlin' he'll be back with all his parts intact." He chuckled gave me a quick kiss and then he and Edward left.

I wished I'd known what had set him off. Edward had been annoying with his pacing but he hadn't don't anything wrong. Wait why was I defending that douche bag, I was still pissed at him. I needed to get the tension level down in the house. I was sure that's what had bothered Jasper. He was already tense and worried himself and now everyone else was just adding to it.

I walked to Carlisle's stereo and clicked it on. Instrumental music floated through the house.

"Oh hell no!" Peter said moving beside me and switching the station. He landed on a country station. He smiled and jerked Charlotte up off the couch by her hand and began spinning her around the living room floor. I was pretty sure what they were doing was the two step.

Emmett caught on quick and pulled Rose up to dance. Jacob came in and asked me to dance but I told him to ask Alice. She started to say no but he just scooped her up and started dancing with her in his arms. She laughed. I smiled at them all.

**Jasper's POV**

"Why are we out here?" Edward grumbled.

It made me pause for a minute.

"Can't ya just read it?" we were far enough away from the house that the others could hear us.

"No, since Bella's been turned whatever protection her shield is giving her seems to have extended to you."

Well that was just the weirdest thing I'd ever heard. I'd never heard of a shield being able to project their shield to another unless they were in their direct line of site at the very least.

"Ya mean ya can't hear me at all right now?"

We really needed to get some one here who could tell us exactly what all my mate could do. Carlisle had a friend named Eleazar, who could tell sense what other vampire's abilities were. Maybe we could give him a call.

"No I can't hear you at all when you're with her. But when you're not in the same room as her it fades away slowly. I'm just now starting to get a few words and pictures from you now."

This would have to be something we could experiment with at a later date.

I pushed my mate's abilities out of my head for the time being. "I need for ya ta calm the fuck down." His fear and nervous habits were making the others worse."Ya can't let your fear control ya. You're scaring the others."

"I'm not the only one scared in there! And why aren't you more scared? This is the Volturi! They can come in and slaughter our family with no problem!" He made them sound like the big bad vampire mafia, which I guess they kind of were.

"I am scared!" I snapped at him. I hated to admit that to him. "But I'm not stupid enough ta go around broadcastin' it so that I'm freakin' everyone else out more than they already are!" I wanted to smack him For him to be so smart he was so fucking stupid.

"I'm not stupid!"

Well, looks like Bella was wearing off.

"Yes ya are! Ya shouldn't have run down stairs in the first place like a little kid screamin' about the boogeyman. Did it ever occur to ya that by ya not lettin' Alice tell us in her own time that ya could have altered how things would turn out? Someone in that room could make a decision based on your outburst and completely fuck us!"

"You're worried she'll turn herself over to save the rest of us when she finds out who the Volturi are and what they're capable of." He didn't ask it, it was a statement that he picked up right out of my head. I was so scared she'd do it. She was the selfless kind of person who wanted to take precautions to insure our family wouldn't come under suspicion if one of us hurt her. She was the, brave girl who had hit a werewolf in the snout, and thumped vampires in the face. She loved blindly and was fiercely loyal. She was my fearless mate and I knew she would do what she thought was right if it would save us.

"I'm sorry Jasper I wasn't thinking. I'll do whatever you need me to do to make sure she doesn't." he was telling the truth. He still cared for her. "I do, but I know that she's your mate and I would never try and come between you again. I swear." That was true, too.

"Do you ever notice that every creature she comes into contact with seems too fall victim

to her charms?"

He had a point. She won over an entire pack of wolves, including that dumb ass Paul who was in huge lust with her. She'd managed to get our entire family to love her including Rosalie, who didn't like anyone but Emmett and herself really. Sure, she loved us but she wasn't open to new comers ever. Now she was Bella's closest friend. And then there was Peter and Charlotte who'd accepted her almost immediately.

"We seriously need to get Eleazar over here and get him to take a look at her. There is no tellin' what all she'll be capable of before it's over with." I hoped she wouldn't develop something she couldn't control.

"Have you felt the pain she causes?" Edward asked me with a shudder. I remembered the small dose she'd given me at the cabin when I'd asked her to. "Oh no it's much worse than that. It's like invisible fire burning you from the inside out. It's almost like the burn of being turned." Then I remembered the flip side of her gift. "Too bad she didn't torture me with that one." He looked shocked that he'd said that. He looked at me like I was going to tear his head off. But all I could do was laugh. We really needed to find him a mate or a companion soon.

"Come on ya sexually repressed perv." I chuckled at him. "We need to get back and try and calm everybody down."

"I'm not sexually repressed, I'm just not as comfortable with all that than the rest of you are." He grumbled as we made our way back.

I'm not sure why it never dawned on me until this moment but Edward was a 111 year old virgin.

"There's nothing wrong with that!"

I didn't comment, but seriously we needed to get him a companion or a mate real quick.

Once we were back to the house there was no need to figure out how to pull everyone out of their funk. I could hear the laughter and music from outside. When we walked in Jacob had Alice cradled in his arms dancing round with her, Emmett and Rose were doing some very dirty dancing, and Bella was watching Peter and Charlotte two step like she was trying to memorize the movements.

I walked over to her and pulled her up. "I don't think I can do that dance." She laughed, but her new body caught on quick and we were moving around the living room with the others to Josh Turner's 'Your Man' .

The music was turned suddenly and I looked over to see Emmett controlling the dial.

"That's enough redneck music!" We wound up listening to a rap station.

Rose grabbed Emmett's hand and pushed him down to sit on the couch and began giving him a dirty little lap dance to a song called 'My Chick Bad' by someone named Ludacris.

"Stop showing off Rose!" Alice giggled.

"Don't be jealous that you can't do it this good." Rose laughed at her and continued to dance for a very happy Emmett.

"The hell you say!" Alice cried and jumped out of Jacob's arms, ran to the radio and changed it. A rock song that I recognized came on. 'Hot Blooded' by Foreigner. Her taste in music had never matched her personality. She shoved Jacob down in a chair and began dancing for him to the beat of the music.

"No touching!" she snapped at him when he moved his hands to her waist. "I have a mate."

"Sorry."He said and locked his arms down on the arm rests. He was probably afraid that if he tried to touch her again she'd stop.

"Hey baby, do ya think ya could do that?" Peter asked Charlotte. She looked at him for a minute and then went to the radio changing it again.

She shoved Peter down in another chair and began his dance. I let out a loud laugh as 'Honky Tonk Badonkadonk' came on. I stopped laughing when I saw the skills of Charlotte.

"You're turn." Bella purred at me and pushed me down into the last remaining seat in the room. Oh damn. She left me only long enough to change the music again. It was a song I'd never heard before but as she walked back to me putting a little sway into her hips the radio D.J. announced that it was 'ET', by some girl named Katy Perry. It wasn't really my taste in music, but then I got to see a side of my mate that I'd never seen before. As she danced in front of me and eventually moving to slide her body over mine, and turning to move her hips to the beat of the music I didn't give a damn what song was on so long as she never stopped.

Unlike Jacob, I could touch my dancer. I took my eyes off my mate for just a moment.

The other girls were still dancing with their mates; Edward was just staring slack jawed at us all. I paid him no attention. If my mate wasn't so damn good at distracting me I'd have beat his ass for watching to show she was providing.

I held her hips more firmly to my lap as she moved them with the music. She leaned back against me with her back to my chest and kept moving. I ran my hands up over her silk dress and massaged her breast through the think material. I was ready to just rip the damn dress off and throw her in the floor right then and there.

"What the hell is going on in my house!" Oh damn, Momma and Daddy were home!

We were all standing in a line facing our parents, even Peter, Charlotte and Jacob.

Everyone, except Emmett and Bella were looking at the floor in shame. Emmett was smiling from ear to ear, he was never ashamed. Bella was smiling too, but she was trying to contain it If she were still human she'd be blushing.

"What exactly were you all doing?" Esme was pacing back and forth in front of us. Carlisle looked as though he was trying to hold in a laugh of his own. "Well?" She snapped when no one answered.

"Blowing off steam." Bella answered for us with a smile. She was holding my hand. I squeezed it and smiled at her.

"Why did you all need to blow off steam, what happened?" she looked skeptical.

"Alice had a vision." Edward supplied. Esme made him stay with the rest of us; he'd only been standing there watching the show, so in her eyes he was just as guilty as the rest of us.

Carlisle came forward then. "About what?"

"Maria is coming for us. She's gone to the Volturi to help take us down, so that she can have Jasper and Bella. Aro wants Edward and me." Alice told him. "He hasn't made a definite decision yet, but everything I'm seeing is leaning towards yes. I think he's going to help her Carlisle."

Everyone was quiet. Everyone's tension levels were spiking up again. Everyone, but Bella, she was calm and loving. She was sending the feeling to me to keep me from getting to stressed at the others emotions. I smiled at her.

I was afraid everyone would go back to silently freaking out on their own. "Well you kids could have at least picked some good music." Esme said with a smile, and walked away to the kitchen. "Jacob get to bed, you look exhausted dear."

He went off to the other spare bedroom grumbling about needing a cold shower first.

"So Bella have you thought any more about your color choices for the wedding?" Esme asked from the kitchen. Bella went to her and they began discussing wedding plans.

Emmett and Rose went upstairs. Peter and Charlotte went to find a private place together.

I was shocked that my parents hadn't freaked like everyone else. But their demeanor and reaction seemed to help everyone else stay calm as well. While Bella discussed wedding plans I went to my study and pulled out a book to read. I had other things I would much rather be doing but I wouldn't interrupt their girl time.

**Bella's POV**

I'd been sure we were all going to get our asses handed to us when Esme caught us giving the guys lap dances, and of course Edward watching the show. He seemed to be enjoying it to. We really needed to look into getting him a girl soon. Maybe he'd loosen up if he did.

I felt bad for poor Jacob, who'd went to bed taking about a cold shower. Alice was just as bad off, every time she thought no one was looking she would wrap her arms across her chest. I knew just how she felt.

"Alice," I pulled her aside. "No one would think any less of you for leaving. We can take care of ourselves, and if you see them coming, you can call us so we can be prepared."

**Alice's POV**

I smiled at Bella, she was so concerned for me. She knew how it felt to be away from your mate. Ever since I'd decided to come back here without him I'd felt the ache of the pull. I felt like there was a hook in my chest and tugging hard.

He'd tried to talk me out of coming; he'd also tried to talk me into bringing him with me.

But I couldn't do that. I wouldn't risk his safety. I'd gotten many angry texts from him.

I'd snuck out while he was distracted.

The texts were getting better. He was back to telling me he loved me and that he missed me. I knew he had to be in just as much pain as I did. I felt so guilty for putting him through it. But I had no choice. I had to help my family. I'd seen Maria planning to come.

She hadn't finalized anything yet because there were still too many factors stacked against her. I hadn't even anticipated her going to the Volturi. No one went to them for help; they were the self-appointed royalty of our kind. They were feared and respected.

"I can't do that, Bella." I told her when she suggested I leave. She started to argue, but I cut her off. The phone isn't reliable enough. I've had to call the others twice to get them back to your place, once when you hurt your side when Edward scared you, and the second time when… " I cut that train of thought off. I didn't want her to dwell on that part of her life. I was afraid her sorrow and guilt over her father's death would eat at her until she couldn't crawl back out of the depression. She seemed to be handling everything well right now, balancing her grief and life.

"Anyway, the phones aren't an option and I'm not going to abandon you all. You're my family. I know that my mate is fine, and I know I'll see him again. I have to believe that, no matter what happens. It's all that's holding me together right now."

"Yeah, that and grinding on that werewolf." Edward as he passed us on his way up to his room.

I wanted to hit him at first. But I controlled the urge. I had to remind myself that things for Edward would be changing soon. I saw blurry visions of his mate joining us.

Bella growled at Edward and he turned to stare at me.

Oh shit! I let it slip. He was looking at me in shock. I'd made sure to keep that vision on lock down for a very long time now. Her arrival was still dependent on another decision. I shut the thought down before he could see her face. if was imperative that he not know yet. If he left in search for her he would not be coming back.

"Sorry, Bella, I've got to talk to Edward about something." I grabbed him by the arm and towed him into the forest as far away from the house as I could get before he started fighting me. I had to make him see why it was important for him to be patient, why he couldn't tell the others, and why if he saw my mates face in my thoughts he couldn't tell them who he was.

If he tattled now, things would go all to hell in an instant.

**Bella's POV**

I didn't follow after Alice and Edward. I didn't want to know what she had to tell him.

She was probably just taking her turn at kicking his ass. I went in search of my mate. I'd had much different plans for the evening until we were interrupted, and then Esme wanted to talk wedding shop.

I found him sitting in his study. He was sitting in the chair in front of the fire reading. I shut and locked the door on my way in. I'd been annoyed that Emmett and Rosalie had gotten to take off up to their room, where they'd been very noisy for the last hour and a half, and I'd had to stay with Esme going over wedding stuff I didn't even care about. I would be just as happy letting Esme and Alice handle it all.

All I wanted was the cowboy sitting in the chair across from me.

He was pretending he hadn't heard me come in. he just kept reading. It was still dark out but I didn't want anyone peaking in on us, so I walked over and drew the shades to his window in case Alice and Edward, or Peter and Charlotte were out in the woods somewhere.

This whole never having to sleep thing was kind of cool. It was one thirty in the morning and I still didn't feel the urge to sleep. However, it made time sort of run together; it was a little harder to tell if minutes or hours had passed.

When he still didn't look up at me I walked in front of him and slid out of the green silk dress he'd helped me into when we'd left the Cabin earlier this evening. He looked up at me and smiled.

"Was there somethin' ya wanted baby doll?"

I started to get a little irritated, I was still all worked up from the our little dance party earlier, and he was sitting there all calm and cool like we were discussing the weather. I pulled it together quickly though. If he was going to ignore me I would play dirty.

I smiled at him.

"Nope, I was just getting irritated with that dress. " I stretched unnecessarily wearing nothing but my panties. His eyes followed my every move. I picked a book up off the shelves, not even looking to see what it was and I stretched out lying on my stomach on the plush green rug. And began kicking my feet back and forth.

He moved to lay on the floor next to me with his own book.

"Oh no, no. if you're going to lay down here with me the shirt and jeans come off. You're making me feel overdressed."

He chuckled, "Is that right darlin'?" He smiled and moved to do as I asked. He laid back down, but he didn't touch me. He just went back to reading his book in his boxer briefs .

I turned over on my back and held the book above me with one hand pretending to read. I began running my fingers over my stomach lightly with my other hand, his head turned to watch my hand. I continued running my hand lower, just above my panty line. He turned towards me.

"Can I help you honey?" I asked him when he continued to stare.

"I was just watching the show to see where ya were goin' with this. "He was going for joking, but his voice came out a little raspy sounding.

"Hmm," I ran my fingers just under the waist band of my panties. "Well I just thought that if you weren't going to play then I would just have to play all by my lonesome."

I smiled at him as he grabbed my hand and pulled it away. His mouth was on mine rough and passionate.

He pulled back, "Where are ya getting' all this new intuitive and confidence?"

I wasn't sure if he was happy about it or mad. I'd done the lap dance for him earlier because I'd gotten jealous. He'd been watching the other girls dance; I'd seen the lust in his eyes when he watched Charlotte. I wasn't stupid I knew he didn't want her but he was a man and there was beautiful women dancing seductively in front of him. He was going to look. I found it comforting that he'd barely looked at Alice's dance for Jacob.

I wasn't sure where all the confidence and intuitive was really coming from but since we'd decided to get married, I was becoming more and more at ease with everything with Jasper. I no longer felt insecure, unwanted, or undeserving. I felt like I belonged. Plus there was the whole thing where my body was so very much nicer now that I was turned.

I heard Alice and Edward return but I paid them no mind. I was more focused on other things.

"Do you not approve or something?"

"Oh no, baby, I approve very much." He kissed me again and ran his hand over my body.

"I just wanted to know the source so I could keep it on hand." He moved over the top of me pulling my legs around his waist.

"Well that wont be a problem." I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him down for a kiss.

"And why is that my sweet mate?" He rotated his hips against mine.

"Because it's you." with that his briefs and my panties were gone. He buried himself in me roughly. I loved it.

He drove into me over and over, for what seemed like forever. I forgot we were in the Cullen house instead of the cabin, my loud moans and cries were sure to draw attention. Jasper's was just as loud as he growled and moaned. When he started to push his pleasure into me I played dirty, I touched the ball of pleasure deep within me and pushed it back out at him. The sounds we made as we climaxed endlessly together were enough to make Emmett blush.

When we finally fell back down from ecstasy, the sun was coming up, and there was someone banging on the study door. I slid the dress back on and answered. I was irritated that we weren't able to just lay there and relax for just a little bit before we had to start dealing with real life again.

"Yes?" I jerked the door open and Jacob, Emmett, Carlisle, and Edward were standing there. "What's wrong?"

"What the hell was that?" Jacob's voice was a little strained and raspy.

"What was what?" I didn't understand what they were talking about. I looked back at Jasper and he was buttoning his pants and walking over to us.

"You guys leaked over the whole house!" Emmett said with a big goofy grin. "And on behalf of everyone I'd like to say thank you, but can we try to tone it down just a little? I'd really like to know I was the one who was pleasing my wife and not my little sister."

I looked at them a little shocked.

"She hit all of ya?" Jasper asked with a chuckle.

"This isn't funny!" I snapped at him. This was embarrassing. I couldn't control my damn ability and I'd managed to pleasure everyone in the damn house. I felt kind of dirty and slutty.

"It ain't like that, baby." Jasper wrapped his arms around me. "They ain't mad at ya, and neither are the girls." He smiled at me very amused.

"I for one, would very much like all future punishment to come in that form." Edward had a smile from ear to ear. I growled at him and he walked away still smiling.

"What the hell is up with him?" I asked, I'd never seen Edward smile like that, or be that happy.

"Don't know he's been that way since he came back with Alice last night." Emmett said as we all watched Edward practically skip up the stairs.

Emmett was the next to leave. "Next time we decide to do this, let's make a party of it." He called over his shoulder. "I've never had a orgy before." He laughed as I picked up a paper weight off the desk and lobbed it at him.

"Perv!" I yelled at him, but I couldn't help but chuckle just a little. I knew he wasn't serious, and even if he was, Rose would kick his ass if he tried.

"Bella," Carlisle said getting my attention."Would you be open to testing your abilities and allowing a friend of mine to examine you?"

"I don't mind testing the strength of whatever abilities I have, but why would I let someone examine me?" I hadn't like doctors poking away at me when I was a human. I damn sure wasn't letting one do it now that I was immortal.

"His name is Eleazar, he has the ability to sense other's gifts . He should be able to let us know what else you might be capable of, and how powerful your powers might become."

He stared at me in utter fasciation.

"I guess that would be okay, I mean we need to know what else I can do right, and I would rather know than have it sneak up on me." I was just glad that it had been the flip side of my gift that had popped out at the cabin with Jasper instead of the pain. I hated the thought that I might have hurt him if it had gone the other way.

"Now, why did no one tell me about this when it first arose?" He had his dad face on now.

"Um, because I wanted to mess with Emmett before everyone found out." He looked disapproving at me.

"It was his fault, he put the idea in my head!" I pointed at Jasper.

"I only suggested, you were the one who took the initiative and ran with it." he chuckled.

I looked at him in disbelief. "Hey don't look at me like that, if you're throwin' me under the bus baby I'm takin' ya with me."

Carlisle laughed, "It's fine but I want to know the minute something like this happens again. None of us are upset with you, but it would have been nice if Esme and I had some for warning before…" he seemed to be at a loss for how to phrase it.

"Before they got their world rocked by their new kid!" Jacob said, not sounding too happy.

"Yes, thank you Jacob." He patted Jacob on the arm. Carlisle seemed to sense that Jacob had something he wanted to talk to me about, so he took his leave with a promise that he'd contact Eleazar today, and also informed me that if I wished to go to the attend the memorial that I needed to hunt and be ready by two pm.

"What's wrong Jake?" I stepped toward and reached out to touch him but he skittered back like he was afraid of me.

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" He looked upset.

"I'll be in the shower darlin', why don't you and Jake take a walk." Jasper hugged me and left us.

We didn't talk until we were a good ways away from the house.

"I know you didn't do it on purpose." He said with a huff. "But I'm still not happy about it."

Out of everyone I would have expected Jacob to have a reaction closer to Emmett's, I would have expected this reaction more from Edward, only with a little more self-righteousness thrown in though.

"Jake I don't understand, I…"

"I was in love with you! And I accepted that you were with him and that you were mates. I know we'll never be together now! That doesn't mean I wanted to feel that!" He was angry now, and so very close to tears.

"What is it that you think I made you feel?" I didn't understand all of this. I thought Jake had comes to terms with how things were between us before Jasper and I even really started dating.

"I didn't want to feel the two of you making love! Of all the ways I imagined having that experience with you, having to feel it filtered through the two of you wasn't exactly what I had in mind!"

I felt horrible now. I'd hurt Jacob so much and hadn't even realized I'd been doing it. I thought his attitude about Jasper had been because he was a meddling big brother.

"I knew you were mated to him, but I still never really gave up hope until I could feel how much you loved each other. I still held that slim hope that you'd feel that for me one day." A tear ran down his cheek.

I reached up and brushed the tear away. "I never meant to hurt you Jake. Please don't be angry at me. I can't control it yet. " If I had tears I would have cried with him.

He let out a shuddering breath, and hugged me. "How do you do that?" He asked in a sad voice.

"Do what?"

"Manage to make me forgive you anything." He gave a little laugh. "I know you didn't mean any harm Bells, I just needed to vent for a minute." I wrapped my arms around him to.

"I wished I'd never met you sometimes." His words hurt at first, but I knew what he was trying to say. He just wished he could feel for me the way I felt for him.

"Don't be sad, Jake. You'll imprint soon, and everything will be better. I just know it." I had to believe there was someone perfect out there for my big wolfy brother.

"I got to go get ready for this afternoon." He said ignoring my words. "I have to help set up. The wolves will be there as a buffer okay." He pulled away from me and gave me a kiss on the top of the head.

"Will you be back tonight?" I liked having Jake here. It made things seem a little more normal to have the guys around.

"Only if you promise not to molest me again." He chuckled and was back to being my Jacob again.

"I promise." I gave him a weak smile.

We said our goodbyes and he left to get things ready for this afternoon. I went back to the house to clean up with a heavy heart. Jake had left joking, but I knew things between us were far from the same. On top of that I was starting to have serious doubts about going to the memorial. I wanted to see my mother, but I was afraid someone would see me, or that I'd hurt someone.

But, I needed the closure. I needed to be able to say goodbye, not only to my father, but to my human life as well. I had to force myself to put one foot in front of the other. I was so afraid I couldn't do this.

_Chapter 27_

_I hope you all enjoy. I'm sorry this one took so long; I had a lot going on. But I'm working on the next chapter now and will have it up a.s.a.p._

_Please feel free to comment and review._


	28. Chapter 29

_Chapter 28_

_I own nothing, this is all for funzies._

_Beta'd by the talented ladyluck25_

_**Bella's POV**_

I went to Hunt before I showered. Jasper offered to take me to find bigger game, but I wasn't in the mood for it. I just wanted to feed and get ready, so he took me to feed well. I didn't want to take any chances that I might get hungry in a room full of people I knew my family and my wolves would be there, but I'd gotten by them once before already so I was taking every precaution I could.

When we got back to the house I showered quickly. Jasper tried several times to joke with me, or to get a little frisky to raise my spirits. But none of it did any good. The closer it got to time for us to leave the worse my mood got. I was so scared I'd hurt someone, but at the same time I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I had to be there.

Rose and Charlotte helped me get ready. Alice watched us from the sidelines, lying across the end of my bed with her arms wrapped around herself. I couldn't understand why she didn't go back to her mate, or at least why he didn't come here. It was stupid to stay in that much pain when you didn't have to, but I left her alone. Esme had tried to convince her to invite her mate here and Alice snapped at her. There was no budging the little pixie when she made her mind up about something.

"So I hear we missed a hell of a show." Charlotte chucked as she situated a long blonde wig on my head. Rose had promised that it was a great quality wig and wouldn't bother me.

She lied. "Yeah, it seems Bella can't seem to control the naughty side of her gift when she and Jasper are bumping uglies. " Rose laughed as she applied my makeup. Applying the crap had not come standard with the package, but they promised I'd get the hang of it quickly.

I didn't bother commenting while they laughed about this morning's pleasure fest.

"Alice?" she looked at me and I hated the pained expression on her face. "Do you want Jasper to help you?"

"How is he going to help Bella? It's not like he's got a spare mate in his back pocket that I could borrow till I see mine again." She snapped at me. I didn't get mad, I knew how she felt.

"No, but he could give you something else to feel." I didn't know how Jasper would feel about me offering his services up to his ex-wife, but I pretty sure he wouldn't mind.

"No, it'll just hurt worse when he has to stop and the pain comes back." She sat up and gave me a weak smile. "Thanks anyway Bells. Although, thank you for the brief break this morning." The laughter didn't reach her eyes, but she was trying.

"Really, what does it feel like Bella?" Charlotte asked. "Everyone else keeps talking about it. is it really that great?"

"I don't know, I only feel what Jasper feels." I told her. "But if what I feel from him is what he's feeling from me it's pretty damn awesome." I tried to laugh, but I wasn't feeling it.

"It's kind of like every orgasm you've ever had all rolled into one. " Rosalie supplied. Damn I was pretty good.

"Hmm." Was all Charlotte said and went back to styling the damn fake hair on top of my head, which I wanted to rip off and put down the garbage disposal. It was itchy and uncomfortable. The black pants suit they put me in was at least comfortable. It wasn't silk, but the material was still very soft. I wore a simple blue camisole underneath. They convinced me to wear heels, and to my surprise, the shoes weren't uncomfortable or difficult to walk in as they had been before I became a vampire.

"Are you ready for the final touch?" Rosalie held her hand out. there was a small white case in her palm.

"What the hell is that?" I was pretty sure I wasn't going to enjoy it, whatever the hell it was.

"Contacts." She sounded so cheerful and up beat I wanted to choke her. she wasn't going to have to wear the damn things, that's probably why she was so happy.

"And why do I need them? I'm going to wear sunglasses." I knew why I had to wear them, I was picking a fight and I didn't know why.

"Jasper says you have to wear them Bella. If you don't do as he says, you won't be able to go. " Rose shoved the little white box at me again.

"He couldn't stop me if he wanted to." I growled. "I'd like to see him try and stop me, if I said no to a pair of damn contacts."

"Well, there it is." Charlotte said with an irritating smile.

"There what is?" I barked at her.

"I was beginnin' to think ya were gonna skip over bein' a pain in the ass new born all together, but there is that irrational anger that's goin' ta get ya grounded." She laughed again and it pissed me off.

"And who exactly is going to ground me, you?" I stood up and growled at her again.

"What the hell is wrong with you Bells?" Rose asked putting a little too much attitude in the question for my liking.

Before I could get too mad, a nice refreshing round of calm made its way through the room. I didn't throw up my shield to block Jasper as he tried to sooth the beast in me.

"Leave her alone girls." Peter was in the door way with Jasper.

Rose and Charlotte left without another word, but they threw annoyed glances back at me as they went. I ignored the guys and crawled onto the bed with Alice and wrapped my arms around her. She let out a little sob as I did. I wondered again if vampires could be bipolar, because I was all over the damn place today.

"You aren't coming with us today huh?" I asked her.

She gave a little strained chuckle, "I wouldn't miss your funeral Bella. Everyone will just assume I'm in extreme mourning for you." I wished there was something I could do for her.

"Do I really have to wear the damned contacts?" I asked Jasper as he came around the bed where I could see him.

"Yes baby, it's just in case you forget and take the sunglasses off." He gave me a small smile.

"When will my eyes turn like all of yours?" I'd fed a couple of times now, and today I'd over fed. Surely the blood red color would start to diluted soon and I'd get a hint of the caramel color of the Cullens' eyes.

"Not for a few more months, at least, little bit." Peter said from behind me. "Don't feel too bad, Charlotte and I have ta wear em' too."

I gave in and agreed to put the damn things in. I offered to help Alice get ready, but she informed me she could still manage it fine and left to get ready. I sat in the high back chair and stared out the bedroom window and ignored everyone as they finished getting ready. I was scared. I was worried that seeing my mother was going to be too much for me , that I wouldn't be able to control myself and I'd go to her.

I had to keep repeating it over and over again in my head_, I can do this, I can do this_. I hoped I could.

"Bella baby, everyone is ready." I turned to see Jasper. He looked damn good in a suit even through the slight fuzziness around the edges that the contacts were causing. His was black like mine, with light blue pin striping. He wore his black boots of course with it, but they looked good. His golden hair was loose, but well tamed in soft lightly gelled curls hanging almost to his shoulders. "If ya changed your mind honey, I could stay here with ya." He was concerned about my erratic mood swings.

"No, I didn't change my mind. I was just enjoying the view for a minute." I tried hard to make the smile reach my eyes.

"Well if ya enjoy seein' me in a suit that much, I'll have ta start wearin' em' more often." He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. He didn't kiss me; he just leaned in and rested his forehead against my own. "I'm serious baby, if ya want to stay, we can."

"No I need to go, Jasper." I closed my eyes and enjoyed his scent. I let it wrap around me and tried to relax a little. "Let's go before I let you change my mind." I took one last look in the mirror to make sure I still wasn't recognizable. I was pretty sure if anyone did see me, they wouldn't recognize me.

The other's all looked good even in mourning clothes. Emmett and Edward both wore black suits with thin black ties and white shirts. Carlisle's suit was black as well with a white shirt, but he wore no tie.

Peter wore a black suit, with a black shirt and a black string tie, and of course his boots and cowboy hat. His eyes were a muddy looking color. A mixture of the blood red and the brown contacts he wore. Charlotte wore long sleeved knee length black dress that was trimmed in white and looked a little like one of Peter's cowboy shirts. She wore her black boots with it and her eyes were the same color as mine, a strange violet color, blue contacts over a red iris.

Rose wore a tight black dress that had a lacy top form just above her bust, and down her quarter length sleeves. Esme wore a simple fitted black dress with a shiny black belt. Alice's dress was a knee length, high collared, sleeveless dress that was trimmed in white and had ruffles down the skirt. They all had black coats to go over the outfits. There was a time when I would have worried that I wouldn't fit in with them. But now I was one of them, I matched just fine. And with the blonde wig I could pass for Rosalie's long lost sister, or maybe cousin.

We had to take Carlisle and Esme's cars, plus one of Edward's to get us all there, Jasper and I road with Charlotte and Peter, Alice road with Edward, and Rose and Emmett road with Carlisle and Esme. I didn't know how it was in the other cars, but our car ride was silent and somber feeling. Jasper started to change the mood of the car car until I glared at him, causing him to stop quickly."I needed to deal with this, I couldn't have him trying to change my mood every time I got down or I'd never be able to get past it.

The memorial was in the church my father had gone to as a child. It was a pretty good sized building with stained glass window. I couldn't remember if I'd ever attended church here. I had a quick moment of irrational fear that I might burst into flames when I went into the church. But I pushed that thought away with a chuckle. We weren't the evil vampires from movies, with no souls. We were the sparkly kind that munched on forest critters, churches, holy water, and crosses didn't bother us.

I sat in the car with Charlotte and Peter while the others went in. Jasper made sure to kiss me and remind me that everything would be okay before he left. I was to stay put until all the humans were inside. Once the last person went in, we got out and hurried across the parking lot and into the building out of the light sprinkle that had popped up.

Just inside there was a large entry way. There were two sets of open double doors that led to the main area of the church. They were open and everyone was seated. I'd taken one final breath before we entered and held it. I didn't have the urge to slaughter anyone, so far so good.

Peter and Charlotte went in ahead of me. I was surprised when I stepped in. Every pew was filled. Most of the wolves were standing around the walls, because there were no more open seats. I looked like the whole town was there. My father was a much loved man. It made me smile.

We stood next to a large pillar and I hid partially behind it, Peter stayed in front of me, and Charlotte stayed beside me. She put a comforting hand around me and smiled. I felt like an ass for acting the way I did earlier. "I'm sorry for earlier." I whispered to her. She smiled and gave me a little wink. I was forgiven.

I scanned the church looking for the others; they were on a pew near the front. Carlisle sat next to the isle, Esme between him and Alice, Edward was on the other side of Alice and Rose and Emmett were on the end of the pew nearest the wall. Jasper wasn't with them.

I nudged Charlotte and mouthed 'where's Jasper.' She pointed to the very front of the church. He sat on the front row, next to a woman with medium length wavy brown hair. It was my mother. On her other side was Phil. She was shaking as she cried. I took a step forward, I needed to comfort her. Charlotte caught me before I could move any farther. I could have broken her hold on my arm but I knew somewhere in me that I shouldn't.

I wrapped my arms around Peter's arm to anchor myself to the spot and Charlotte kept her arm looped through mine. Peter patted my hand on his arm and gave me a reassuring smile.

The preacher approached the podium at the front of the church, thing were about to start. I sensed movement beside us and looked over to see Charlie's friend and Jacob's father wheeling himself in. He stopped and looked up at us with a surprised and hostile look on his face. I didn't understand the look.

I hadn't given Billy much thought since I'd been turned. But I assumed he knew about everything. He would have to know about Jacob, and I was sure Jacob would have told him about my being turned, and probably the specifics of Charlie's death. Maybe that was where the hostility was coming from. He blamed me for what happened.

He sat there just staring at us. I had to get him to move on before he started to draw attention to me.

"Billy?" I said in a quiet voice.

His angry expression turned into one of shock and horror. He looked over to the Cullens, then back at me, and then he scanned, his eyes landing on Jacob standing near the Cullens. Then he looked back at me again.

"Billy are you okay?" I whispered him, and let go of Peter to reach out and touch his arm.

He jerked away from me and quickly wheeled away from us. He was heading in Carlisle's direction.

"How could you?" he asked way too loudly when he stopped next to Carlisle. The people around them all turned to stare at them.

Carlisle just looked at him in confusion for a minute. "Billy I didn't…"

"It doesn't matter! One of you did and it was your responsibility to make sure this didn't happen!" Billy yelled at him cutting him off.

I saw my mother, Phil, and Jasper turn to stare at the commotion. This was going to get out of hand very quickly. I wrapped my arm back around Peter's, I found myself wanting to go break it up. I didn't like how Billy was talking to my family. But I had to stay put, I told myself as I watched helplessly.

"Dad, you need to stop this." Jacob had moved to Billy and tried to wheel him away, but the older Black reached down and threw on his brake so Jacob couldn't move him. Billy looked up at his son in such anger. "You should have told me!" he snapped at him. "And you should have done your duty and disposed of the trash the minute you found out!"

"Dad, this is not the place, we can deal with this in private later." He tried reasoning with his father.

"Billy, please." Jasper had gotten up and went over to try and get everything calmed down. I felt it when he sent out soothing calm emotions. But Billy was too far gone for it to have any effect on him.

Billy unlocked his wheel and steered his chair away. Jacob started to go after him, but Jasper put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Jake, let him go. He needs time."

Billy stopped and glared back at his son, "You are no son of mine! Not while you consort with monsters like those!" with that he left the church.

I couldn't believe that Jacob hadn't told his father about me being turned. But even with that I couldn't believe he'd write off his own son just for choosing to live peacefully with us instead of starting a war over things that had been unavoidable.

I turned back to look to see how my mother was dealing with all the weird drama. I stood still shocked. She was staring back at me. The grief and aguish on her face broke my heart. I was almost sure she recognized me but after just a moment Jasper moved back to sit with her and Phil, and she turned back around. The preacher called everyone to order and started.

I couldn't handle it. After she'd looked at me I wanted to get out of there. not to mention talking to Billy had depleted all of the oxygen I'd taken in before entering the room. I didn't need the air to live, but I still wanted to breathe just out of habit, and when I took in a shuddering breath flames shot up my throat. Even with over feeding the scent of humans in the room was so tempting.

I had to get out before I did something stupid. Even if I didn't attack someone, I wasn't going to be able to resist going to my mother much longer. I jerked away from Charlotte and let go of Peter and fled the room. I stopped in the foyer. I didn't want to go outside in case Billy was there. I didn't want to take a chance on harming him. I spotted a small stair well that led to the upstairs store room. Humans hadn't been up here in a while. The only smells were dust and old wood.

"Honey, just let her be." I heard Peter from the bottom of the stairs. "She just needs to be alone." I hadn't really been alone since being turned.

I still wasn't really alone now. I knew that the vampires could still hear me. I could still hear everything going on in the downstairs area. The wolves could probably all hear as well. I didn't care. I couldn't stand in the back of the church staring at my mother crying and not go to her.

I sat and listened as one by one people from Forks stepped up to say something nice about Charlie. Then I was surprised to hear my small group of human friend step up to say how nice, and fun I'd been. I hadn't remembered being fun, but it was still touching. Angela cried. Then there was music playing and the preacher announced that there would be a slide show. After another fifteen minutes he closed the service and I heard everyone start to make their way out.

Renee was at the front of the church receiving condolences from everyone who passed. I went to a small window and watched from the shadows of the musty room. Once the last of the humans were gone the Cullens approached Phil and my mother.

"We're so sorry for your loss." Carlisle reached out and took my mother's hand and squeezed gently. She jerked slightly at his cold touch, but kept ahold of his hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Cullen." Her voice was horse and weak.

"Please call me Carlisle." He smiled kindly at her. "Bella was very dear to us."

She smiled at all of them. "I'm so happy that she had such good friends here. She never had many back home."

"I know that this isn't the best time to ask this, but I don't know when we'll get a chance to see you again before you leave, but have you decided what you might do with Bella's truck?" he asked.

"Oh, um no I hadn't even thought about it." She probably wouldn't have either until the last minute.

"Well I was wondering if you might want to sell it. I wanted Jasper to have something of Bella's and the house, well…" he let the rest of the sentence drop. There was no need to remind her of the horrible facts.

Renee looked at Phil for an answer. "Well it would be very expensive and time consuming to drive it all the way home with us. It's really up to you though, hun. We can do whatever you wish." Phil's voice came out just as horse as my mother's they'd been crying together.

She looked to Jasper. "I'm glad my daughter had you. She spoke so lovingly about you when she talked to me about you." she choked up a little but got it under control fast. "You don't have to pay for the truck. You can have it. We don't really need another vehicle and I want you to have something of hers as well."

She let them know that the truck had been towed to the police station. They hadn't found the keys in the rubble, and they'd have to file for lost title. Carlisle assured her he'd take care of everything. He offered again to pay, but she refused.

I felt so crappy right now. I was going to live forever, never wanting for anything. My mother and Phil weren't exactly poor but they both still had to work hard for what they had. I'd figure out a way to provide for them, so they didn't have to work as hard. I could send them money and make it seem like a life insurance payment for my and Charlie, even if I had to get a loan from Carlisle to do it. Surely living forever I'd be able to pay it back eventually.

Jasper stepped up in front of my mother holding a small white envelope. "These are all the picture I could find that we had of Bella while she was in Forks. They're from school, and some from her birthday, and just some random shots of her." Renee took them with a tearful thank you. "I want ya ta know I will always love your daughter with all my heart, forever, and thank ya so much for the truck. It means so much to all of us, not just Me." She hugged him.

She and Phil said their goodbyes and left, but not before she threw a look back at the church and I skittered back away from the window. I was afraid she'd see me. I sunk down to the floor, put my head in my hands and sobbed as silently as I could manage.

Jacob and Jasper found me there ten minutes later. Jacob sat next to me on the floor. "What ya doing hanging around up here all alone?" He asked me with a sad smile. His eyes were puffy, he'd been crying to.

"I can't even shed a tear for my dad."

"Well I can. I'll cry for the both of us. " He leaned forward and hugged me and cried silently while I sobbed tearlessly.

Jasper let us have our moment. He knew I needed it. When we finally pulled apart he helped us both to stand.

"Everyone is gone if ya want ta go down and say your goodbyes, baby." He wrapped an arm around me and kissed the top of my head.

We made our way down and I stood in front of the two pictures they'd displayed for us. Mine was my last school picture in Phoenix. Charlie's was a picture of him in his uniform in front of an American flag. "This feels stupid to say goodbye here. I don't feel Charlie here. I don't even know the last time he went to church."

"Well, come on then, I know where we can go." Jasper said and took my hand leading me out of the church.

"Why didn't you tell your dad?" I asked Jacob before we left.

"Because he's a racist old man who hates vampires." He gave a weak chuckle. "The rest of the council knows, and they agreed with me that you being turned wasn't worth a war, and that telling my dad was a bad idea." He gave me a little hug. "I'll see you at home."

"Home?" I smiled at him.

"Yeah, I think I've been kicked out of Billy's, and Esme said I could keep the spare room. None of the other wolves can really put me up except for Paul and I'm not living with him. He's an ass." His smile reached his eyes a little.

"So, you're really going to be that big brother I never asked Santa for, huh?" I nudged him.

"Yup." He nudged me back.

"Jake, come on man, we've got things to do! " We looked over to see Edward behind the wheel of his car.

"Where are you two going all chummed up?" I asked with a laugh. Edward, the uptight jack ass was still acting all weird and happy. I was glad not to have to look at him moping around anymore but it was still weird.

"He said he had an errand to run and he wanted me to help." He held his finger up at Edward telling him to wait a minute. "I figured I might as well make an effort to get along with him if I'm going to be living with you guys." We said our goodbyes and they left.

Rose and Emmett rode back with Peter and Charlotte, and Alice rode with Esme and Carlisle. Jasper and I slunk into the forest and ran to our destination. We came out at the area around the burnt remains of my home. A lot of it had been cleared away now.

I walked out and sat down next to the remaining ashes, just on the other side of the tree that had been outside of my room. No one would be able to see me here. The tree had been singed, but hadn't gone down with the house.

Jasper was right. This felt right. I could tell Charlie good bye from here. He stayed in the forest giving me what privacy he could. I didn't need privacy from him though. I waved him over to me. He sat down behind me with his legs on either side of me, and rubbed his hands up and down my arms.

"I'm sorry, dad." I reached out and picked up a small piece of charred wood. "I should have been more careful, I should have protected you better. I shouldn't have brought my world into your house. I'm going to miss you so much. You were a good dad, maybe a little unsure of how you were supposed to handle the whole parenting a teenage girl all of a sudden, but you were still a good dad. I love you so much."

There was so much more I wanted to say, but I didn't know how to say it all. I pushed out my feelings and hoped my dad would feel them where he was now. "Goodbye daddy, I'll think about you often and maybe someday, I'll see you again." I held onto the piece of wood and leaned back into Jasper. "I'm going to make them pay for doing this to you."

Jasper didn't comment about my promise. "Carlisle bought the land here." He said kissing my temple. "We can rebuild whenever you're ready. Or we can leave it vacant. He had it put in your name."

I just shook my head. It made me happy to know that when we came back to Forks again I'd be able to stay in my home again if I wanted. It would never be the same but it would be a place I could feel near to Charlie when I needed. "What pictures did you give Renee?"

"They were pictures from your party, some from school that Rose and Alice took of ya. There were some that Jake snapped of ya with his phone. Esme had a lot of all of us hanging out with the wolves. There were two of you and Rose covered in oil from the cars. Why did ya not want us to give em' to her?" He was running his fingers through my hair now.

"No it's fine, I didn't even realized you guys had been taking pictures of me." I must have been severely unobservant as a human. He let me sit in silence until the sun started to set.

"Do ya want ta hang out a while longer, or head back ta the house?" He nuzzled my neck.

I couldn't help but smile a little. I felt a slightly better now that I'd had a chance to say goodbye. There was still so much sorrow in me over Charlie's death, and I would keep my promise. I would make Maria pay dearly for sending my father's killer to town. But I felt somewhat lighter, like some of the guilt had lifted a little. I hoped it was my dad telling me he didn't blame me.

"Let's go home." I stood and helped him up. "I want to get this damn wig off. Rosalie is a damn liar. This thing is horribly uncomfortable."

We ran back to the house. I took the wig off and chunked it into a tree outside of Emmett and Rose's window, so she'd know how I felt about the fucking thing.

Everyone was gathered in the living room. Embry, Quil, and Paul were there with Carlisle, Peter, and Emmett. They were gathered around the coffee table looking over a map. Esme was stroking Alice's hair as the tiny pixie laid on the couch with her head in her mother's lap. Rose paced in front of the windows. Charlotte just stood with her arms crossed over her chest, watching the guys look over the map.

"What's going on?" I asked worried.

"Aro decided?" Jasper asked. Alice just nodded her head yes. She didn't have to say it. If everyone was this worked up he'd agreed to what Maria wanted. He was sending her reinforcements.

"What's wrong?" Jacob asked as he and Edward entered.

"Looks like the big bad is on its way boss." Embry told him.

_Chapter 28_

_Hope you guys enjoy and please review and comment._

_I'm working very hard to get the next chapter out soon. _


	29. Chapter 30

**Chapter 29**

**I own nothing, all for funzies.**

**Beta'd by LadyLuck25**

_**Bella's POV**_

"Okay." Was all Jacob said and he stepped up to look over the map with the others.

"Alice says the attack will take place here." Carlisle pointed to a spot on the map.

I hated how worried and uncomfortable everyone looked. I hated that I was causing all of this. What was so damned special about me that someone would chase me to another state, kill my father, and come after the rest of my family just to get their hands on me? This was just too ridiculous and unbelievable. Then again I was a vampire in a room full of werewolves and other vampires, so ridiculous and unbelievable seemed to be the name of the game these days.

I figured Jasper would go into battle strategy mode so I walked to the bedroom to change. I knew nothing about the people coming for us; I had no battle experience, so I wouldn't be missed. Or at least that's what I'd thought.

Jasper walked into the closet where I slid out of the last of my clothes and slid his arms around me from behind.

"What are ya doing sneakin' away without me?" he laid a kiss on the back of my neck.

"I thought you'd want to be included on the plans." I turned around in his arms and he reached up and pulled the pins out of my hair that held it in a tight bun. As my hair fell he ran his fingers through it.

"I like your natural hair so much better than the blond wig." He smiled down at me, I was happy the contacts had completely dissolved and I could see his beautiful face clearly now.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he wrapped his arms back around me and began laying little kisses against my neck and shoulder. I didn't object to the actions, but we had other things to worry about at the moment.

"What do ya mean?" He pulled back just enough to look down at me.

"You're purposely ignoring what's going on and trying to get laid." I laughed at him. "It's more something Emmett would do, not you. So what's wrong?"

` "There's nothin' wrong. Peter is in there he'll most likely tell them the same things I would, and I'd rather be spendin' time with you than talkin' about war right now." He snuggled in close to me and began kissing again. I had a feeling he was lying to me.

"You know this isn't really fair." I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. "I'm standing here in nothing but my underwear and you're still wearing your suit." He pulled away from me long enough to strip down naked and was back with his arms wrapped around me.

I kissed him as passionately as I could. I slid my hands down his chest, around to his back, and down to grab his cute little ass. He ground his self against me and moaned. When he tried to pull my underwear off I pushed him away. "Not so fast. Tell me what's going on with you or you get nothing." I had to step out of his reach again as he made a grab for me.

"I already told ya, there's nothin' wrong, baby." He looked at me with frustration.

"So the person in this house most qualified to get us out of this mess alive is skipping the meeting for a piece of ass, yeah I don't think, so try again." He opened his mouth to start his explanation and I felt him trying to push calm, and understanding into me. I threw my shield up and blocked him. "Try for the truth and stop doing that!"

His gift stopped pushing against mind and he gave in. "I don't want ya to be away from me right now." He said in exasperation.

"Why?"

"I'm afraid you'll run, or that someone will get around Alice's visions and get to ya before we can stop them." He put on a pair of jeans and a black tee shirt as he spoke.

"Why would I run?" I had thought about it a few times. I hadn't realized that any of them would have picked up on it though. If I just gave myself up the others would be safe. But I knew that wasn't entirely true. Every one of them would do the same thing I would do if the situation were reversed. They would still put themselves on the line and come after me.

"I'm not stupid Bella, I know ya. If ya really thought it would save the rest of us you'd run and give yourself over to them. Just remember it's not just you they want any more. Aro wants Alice and Edward, and Maria wants the both of us. So even if you run they'll still come after the rest of us anyway." He was angry.

So was I. "Do you really think that I'm so stupid that I haven't already thought of all of that?" I snapped at him. I grabbed a pair of Phil's old cut off sweats, and one of Charlie's Fork's Police Department tank tops. The sweats were surprisingly soft on the inside so they didn't irritate my skin. The tank top was a little rough but wasn't unbearable. I felt a little more like myself in my old clothes.

"I didn't say ya were stupid! I'm just worried about ya. I don't want ta loose ya." His tone softened.

"Then stop being an overprotective ass and get out there and keep us safe then." I gave him a quick peck and smiled at him. "I promise I'm not making any decisions without running it by you first." Then I smacked him in the head.

"Okay, I'm gonna go with OW! What was that for?" He grumbled, but wrapped his arms back around me.

"No using sex to get what you want!" He smiled and kissed me again. He took my hand and lead me out to the living room where the others were still going over the map.

"So who are these guys?" Jacob asked.

"The Volturi are the self-appointed royals of the vampire race." Carlisle supplied. "They enforce our laws. Maria is the head of the Mexican Coven, and Jasper's sire. "

"And why are they all coming here, I mean I've caught bits and pieces of all of this, but no one has really explained it all." Jacob was just full of good questions tonight.

"Maria had her eye on Bella back in Phoenix." Peter told him. "When I sent the little bit here, Maria had a few of her henchmen follower after her."

"Yeah, but why? I mean no offence Bella, but what exactly do you have that this chick wants?" Jacob turned to me like I was going to have any answers. I had none.

I shrugged and Peter answered again. "From what I could gather from our last visitor, Maria has a new second who can sense humans who will have special skills. She sends him out and he brings back the strongest. He spotted Bella and started stalking her, and waiting for the best time to grab her up. But I sent her away before he could."

Jasper stepped in the circle of men and looked down at the map, I stayed close to him wrapping my arms around his waist and laying my head against his back. He laid one of his hands over my arms and reached back with the other keeping as much contact with me as possible. I was so very quickly becoming one of those clingy girlfriends. Thankfully he didn't seem to mind.

"The little bit is very powerful, and I suspect she'll become more powerful before it's all said and done. Havin' more than one power is almost unheard of in our world. Not ta mention the ones she's got make her pretty damned scary. Who the hell wouldn't want a weapon like Bella in their coven?"

I peak from behind Jasper. "Well thanks redneck." I smiled at him. He made me sound like a bad ass. Jasper patted my hand on his waist and chuckled.

I glanced over at Edward lounging in one of the sitting chairs he smiled at me. I couldn't stand it I had to know what the hell was going on with him. "Okay, what the hell is up with you?" He looked at me in confusion. "You've been acting weird all damn day! What's going on? Are you and Jacob dating or something?"

"What the fuck! How did I get brought into this shit?" Jacob yelled. I knew it was ridiculous when I said it, but it was all I could come up with. He'd gotten all chummy with Jacob awfully quick and he'd been way too happy all day to be Edward. But there was no way Jacob was gay, maybe. Well, I was pretty sure.

"No! Why would you immediately jump to that conclusion just because I'm in a good mood?" Edward looked a little angry now. My inner monster like Edwards anger, it meant that she might get to come out and play if he made me mad.

"Because, you're never happy!" Emmett laughed.

"And the two of you were all friendly today!" I said. "You two can't stand each other! What were you doing today anyway?"

"He just asked me to help him look for something." Jacob said sounding a little miffed about my assumption about the two of them.

"What?" My curiosity was peaked.

"This." Edward pulled a long silver chain with my locket out of his pocket. "I was going to give it to you when we got back, but then this crap came up." He motioned to the map and Alice, still lying with her head in Esme's lap. "I found it in the back of the moving truck Charlotte used." He put the locket in my hand.

"Aw, thank you guys so much!" Jasper helped me put it on. "I'm sorry I called you guys gay." I hugged Jacob and patted Edward on the shoulder, I still wasn't up to getting that close to him, but I did appreciate what he'd done for me. "Now seriously though what the holy frick is up with you?" I wasn't going to let it go.

"Don't we have more important things to be worrying about than Edward!" Alice snapped from the couch. "Bad guys are coming to slaughter and kidnap us!" Esme continued to stroke Alice's hair trying to sooth her.

"Calm down, shorty." Jacob smiled at her, and she growled at him. It just made him laugh.

"She's right." Carlisle said and jumped back into battle speak before anyone could argue. "Alice sees the battle taking place here." I didn't fail to notice the relieved look that crossed Edwards face as everyone moved back to the map. I would get it out of him later.

I went back to my position, wrapped around the back of Jasper, as he talked with the others over what our strategy should be. This was so stupid. I didn't know why we were just going along with the vision. We should be using them against the bad guys, not letting them make the decisions and deciding what the future would be.

"What did you just do?" Alice shot up off the couch and pulled me away from Jasper.

"Alice, what are you doing?" I asked pulling away from her. "I didn't do anything. I was just standing here."

"No, what did you just decide?" She was smiling.

"I didn't really decide it; I was just thinking we should take control of you visions. We shouldn't let the bad guys make the decisions and decide what the future. We should make the decision where the fight will be, and we should find help. Maria found help, why can't we? Don't you guys have friends who would come here and stand with us?" I had ideas just tumbling out of my head tonight.

Alice grinned at me and it reached her eyes. "I love you so much!" She said and threw her arms around me.

"Um, I love you too, Alice." I chuckled and hugged her back.

"We can't ask our friends to come and risk their lives for us." Carlisle said.

"Why the hell not? You guys would do it for them!" I let go of Alice and turned to him. His face was torn. He knew it was a good idea, but he didn't want to endanger any of his friends.

"Carlisle, I can see some of it very clearly now that Bella has put it out there for everyone to decide on, things look very promising if we have more muscle." She tried to convince him. "The only thing keeping any fuzzy is you're indecision and the wolves' involvement. So suck it up and make a decision!"

"Ya better make it the right decision pop or I might have to get all newborn on your ass." I added and growled at him for emphasis. I wasn't going to let him endanger the rest of us because he was too damn squeamish to ask for help. I heard the others chuckle.

Carlisle on the other hand seemed to take me seriously. He took a step away from me, "Well I guess there is no harm in making our situation known and let them decided if they'd be willing to assist us however they are able."

I smiled at him. "Good boy, pop."

"Okay!" Alice said loudly getting everyone's attention. "Rose, Emmett I see the two of you in Ireland, I see that Siobhan, Liam, and Maggie will most likely come." Rose just nodded once and went to stand with Emmett, who wrapped her up in his large arms. "Carlisle, Esme I see you in Egypt.. Amun will take a great deal of convincing. But he has a new coven member who I see making the easy decision to join our cause." Esme moved to hold Carlisle's hand and give him a reassuring smile. It seemed she was more optimistic about the situation than her mate seemed to be. "Edward you're going to Denali to bring back the sisters and Carmen and Eleazar. Also I think you're taking at least two wolves with you. You're whole trip is so fuzzy I can't really see it clearly. But you know they'll help us, they are just like family after all."

Edward looked to Jacob. "I need to get some things in order on the reservation and see who still remains loyal to me and who's abandoning us for my father's prejudices'." Jake told him.

"Any wolves that are without a home for siding with you may come here." Esme smiled at Jacob. "We'll make room even if I have to go buy some of those RV homes to move in out here until we can get all this settled."

"Thanks, Esme." He smiled back at her. I could see it all over his face, he loved Esme like a mother. He'd lost his mother when he was nine in a car accident. he was loving having a mother figure to care for him. "We can leave first think in the morning." He said to Edward and then turned to Paul. "You coming or you want to stay behind and babysit the pups?"

"Hell no! I'm not getting saddle with all the pack drama!" Paul laughed. "I'll come and watch your ass."

"Alright, Quil you're in charge until we get back." Quil gave Jacob a quick nod. "And don't abuse the position. Just make sure they don't fight and we'll be back as soon as we can." The wolves all left. Jacob told Edward he'd be back first thing in the morning. They were going to run the whole way. It would be quicker than a car.

"So what about the rest of us?" I asked Alice.

"Well, Peter and Charlotte won't do anything I suggest so they already know what they're doing." She didn't sound angry about it.

"Just for fun where the hell do ya see us, tiny?" Peter asked her with a smile and snuggled in close to Charlotte.

"Tracking down some of your nomad buddies." She smiled back at him. I wondered if I was the only one who noticed she seemed to be doing much better for the moment.

"Wada ya think baby, wanna go look up some old friends?" He kissed Charlotte on the shoulder.

"I guess so." Charlotte huffed. "But not cuz she said we were! I was already plannin' on gettin' some of our old buddies into the mix." Charlotte would never like Alice no matter what.

Alice just rolled her eyes and moved on. "I'm having trouble seeing where you two are going." She said in frustration.

"Well start thinking of all the friends you guys have and see which one goes fuzzy." I suggested.

She smiled at me and concentrated very hard for a few minutes. "Oh! You're going to get Garrett!" She was very pleased with herself.

"Um, Alice, ya know that ain't a good idea." Jasper told her and pulled me tightly into his side like he was trying to shield me from something.

"Oh whatever! I'm sure he's over all of that by now. Just tell him it was all my fault. Which I guess it was. But, still he's the only one of our friends I see going fuzzy because of you and Bella. Oh thank you Bella it just became clearer." She was way too happy about sending us all off to invite family friends' to what might possibly be their death. When Jasper started giving her trouble about where we'd be going I decided I'd be going with or without him so she'd get a clearer image of our trip.

I wanted to know what had happened between Jasper and this Garrett guy, but we didn't have any more time to waste at the moment. Carlisle chartered two private jets. One taking Emmett and Rose to Ireland, and the other taking Esme and his self to Egypt. They left within the hour to get to the airport.

I made sure to give everyone a hug goodbye in case there were any complications and we didn't see each other again. It was a morbid thought, but I'd lost so much lately that I had to let them know that I loved them all.

"See you later, Pop." He hugged me and smiled

"Don't worry, Bella we'll be back soon." He handed me off to Esme.

"Don't worry dear, Alice says we still have plenty of time before they arrive. We'll be back safe at home in just a couple of days." She hugged me.

"I love you guys. Please be careful." There was so much more that I wanted to say, but I didn't know where to start or how to word it so I just left it at that.

"Don't worry baby sis, even if the planes crashed, we'd most likely survive." Emmett picked me up into a bear hug.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and picked him up off the ground. "You're not the only one who can do bear hugs anymore." I chuckled at him and then set him back down.

"Yeah well, when we get back and you have to start training I'm going to wipe the floor with you, tiny newborn!" he nudged me.

"Yeah right." Rose said shoving him out of the way and hugging me tightly. "We'll be back soon, you guys be careful, okay? And if I'm not back in two days go out and hit the water button for the babies okay."

"Will do." I promised her. "Watch your back out there, big sister." With that they were gone.

Peter and Charlotte took off on foot. "Ya take care. Don't let Jasper give ya too much shit!" Charlotte chuckled as she hugged me goodbye. "Your daddy says we won't be gone any longer than the end of the week. Ya better be here when I get back. Don't make me come lookin' for ya!"

"Yes ma'am." I smiled at her. It was weird how un-weird it was for her to call Peter my daddy. "Be careful and keep kickin' his ass momma. I love you guys." I hugged her a little too tightly and she let out a squeak of pain. "Oops!" I let go quickly.

"Don't worry, little bit; you'll get the hang of the strength pretty quick." He gave me a quick hug and then turned to Jasper. "I'll see ya soon Major. Take care of our girl." They shook hands and left disappearing into the trees.

We were alone with Alice now. "Okay, Alice, where is he?" Jasper asked sounding just a little irritated.

"He's in Portland. He was on his way to visit Carlisle, but got distracted by a piece of "fluff" as he'll put it." She giggled. "You guys can leave out tomorrow morning and be back by nightfall if everything goes well." Well at least I wouldn't have to make a long trip on a plane full of people. I was doing very well so far with my restraint, but I didn't want to push it. "Now, you two relax for a while I'm going out to hunt and give my mate a call."

"Hey!" I startled them both with my outburst. "Is your mate coming here or something? You're doing much better."

"He's come closer to ease our pain, but he still won't be here yet. Don't worry you'll meet him in due time." She left before I could question her any further.

"Why is she hiding him from us?" I asked wrapping my arms around Jasper's waist and laying my head against his chest.

"I don't think she's hidin' him baby. I think she just don't want ta put him in danger by bein' here with us." He kissed the top of my head.

"Well if it was me, I wouldn't let you stop me from being here with you." I was pretty sure that whatever was going on with Alice and her mate that the little pixie had a plan behind it. She always did.

"Ya know we're alone here right? Why are we talkin' about Alice and her mate, when we could be doin' so many other things to pass the time until we leave in the mornin'?" He spun me around and planted a kiss on me that made me weak in the knees.

"Jasper, I want you, but do you really think this is the best time?" I wanted to cut my own tongue out for questioning him. All I wanted to do was strip him down and worship every inch of him and forget that the rest of the world existed. I was just worried about our timing.

"Yes, baby. This may be the last chance we get to be alone until this is all over with. I think that's why Alice went for a hunt. She's givin' us some privacy." He kissed me again.

"What happened to Edward?" He'd said we were alone, but by my count there should still be one more Cullen in the house until Jacob and Paul came back for him in the morning.

"Really? You're worried about Edward when we could be gettin' naked?" He was smiling but I could feel the little twinge of jealousy coming from him.

"It's not like that! You just said we were alone and I thought he was waiting on Jacob and Paul." I stood on my tip toes and gave him a kiss.

He chuckled at me. "He went to wait at the treaty line for them. I think he's afraid you'll corner him and torture him to get him to tell you why he's bein' so weird." He began pulling me towards our room. "Now, stop worryin' about everyone else and start focusin' on what I'm doin' to ya."

He started pulling my clothes off and I couldn't help but focus on anything but him and what he was doing. He started with my shirt. Pulling the tank top over my head and tossing it across the room. his hands ran over my breasts as he kissed me and walked me backwards until I hit the bed and he lifted me onto it. He kissed his way down my jaw, my neck, running his tongue down my collar bone. He moved down lower, sucking my nipple into his mouth and nipping lightly with his teeth. I moaned, arching my back up off the bed forcing my breast more securely to his mouth and then tangling my fingers in his golden locks. He pulled back and started to pull my pants off, but I stopped him.

"Um, don't you think you should be losing a few layers of clothes as well?" I asked grabbing ahold of his wrist.

"Okay, ya know what I fell for that one in the closet earlier and I got nothin'! We're doin' this my way this time!" He grumped at me and tried to pull the pants again.

"I don't think so! You got to give a little to get a little, baby." I pulled his hand away from my pants all together and scurried across to stand on the other side of the bed where he couldn't reach me, crossing my arms over my breasts to hide them from his sight.

"I don't think so!" He threw my words back at me. "Get back over here little girl or I'm comin' ta get ya!" He smiled a wicked and devastatingly sexy smile at me. I smiled back at him. I was pretty sure I was going to like this game.

"You really think you could take me old man?" He made a move like he was going to come around the bed, but at the last second he came across the top of the bed. He was fast, but I was faster.

I jumped up just as he reached out for me and landed on the bed just behind him. I kicked him in the ass and knocked him to the floor. "Hey there's my hat!" He said as he hit the floor. He came up with his hat in hand. I remembered dropping it there when he was gone. It had slid under the bed and I'd forgotten it there.

He put the hat on and reached up grabbing one of my ankles. I'd been so amused at seeing him fall to the floor that I hadn't seen him move until it was too late. He jerked my ankle out from under me and I hit the mattress with my back. He was on top of me almost instantly. I tried to roll out of the way but, he had one leg on each side of my own preventing the movement. The beast inside me was enjoying this, but she wanted to be on top.

I reached up to push him off of me, but he caught hold of my wrists and pinned them to the bed above my head. I growled at him. It was instinctual, my beast wanted to be dominate, but at the same time having him hold me down was a huge turn on. We were going to make him work for it.

I bucked my hips against him hard enough to almost throw him off me.

"Easy now baby." He chuckled at me. "Don't hurt yourself." I growled at him again.

He bent down to kiss me and I got one foot up and planted it on the bed. I used it as leverage and kicked off the bed sending both of us into the air. I wasn't quite sure how I managed to do it, but I turned us to where we landed with him under me, his wrists pinned to the bed. "How about you don't hurt yourself, honey." I purred at him in a sweet voice.

"Oh baby, ya know this ain't goin' end well for ya, right? Ya know I'm gonna win." I growled at his challenge. He tried to push me up off him, but I was just too strong for him. I couldn't help, but laugh just a little. At least until he rolled us suddenly and we fell of the bed, I landed on my back with an, "Oof." He landed on his feet easily, and smiled down at me in amusement.

"Want help up, honey?" I didn't take the hand he held out to me. I got up and we squared off with each other. I was so wrapped up in the game that I'd completely forgotten I no longer had a top on. "Just in the interest of speeding things up to the good stuff before we have ta head out in the mornin', how about if ya can make it past me to the door I'll let ya run things tonight. If I can stop ya and get ya back on the bed I get ta run it? Deal?" I didn't answer him, I just gave him a quick nod.

I was quickly going over the plan in my head. I was quicker and stronger than him right now. I could just rush him, pick him up and tow him to the door with me. He just stood there casually, like I wasn't a threat. My inner beast growled at him and I let it trickle up out of my throat.

"What ya waitin' for little girl? Ya ain't scared are ya?" he taunted.

I threw myself forward and reached out to wrap my arms around his waist to pick him up. but it didn't quite work out as planned. He put an arm out at the last second and blocked my arms from encircling him. He grabbed my wrist and used my own momentum to pull me forward faster making me lose my footing, then spun me and threw me back on the bed and landed on top of me. Damn!

"Strength and speed don't mean shit when ya don't know how ta use it, baby." I snarled at him, but he kissed me, and me and my beast both forgot what we were snarling at.

Before I knew what was happening my pants were gone and I was lying under him naked. I wrapped my arms around him and shredded the shirt he was wearing. He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. We both growled as he slammed us against a wall, the bed forgotten. He ground his hips into mine.

He kissed and I reached down between us and ripped the button off his jeans. He shimmied them down just enough and then buried himself inside me. I gripped his shoulder and cried out into his mouth. He pulled out of me and then shoved back inside of me hard making me see stars before he reached up and pulled my head back roughly by my hair and bit down on the mating mark he'd already made. Oh god, who needed beds? This was so much better. We both hit our climax together. As always, it went on and on. Finally he staggered to the bed and collapsed with a moan of pleasure and satisfaction.

"I'm sorry baby, was that too rough?" He asked the worry thick in his tone.

"Hell no! I loved every second of that. We should do that one lots more." I pushed him back on the bed and laid my head on his chest. "Although," I chuckled. "Esme would probably like for us to not break the house quite so much next time." He looked over where I pointed and laughed with me. We'd put a very noticeable dent in the wall.

After about an hour of just lying in each other's arms, I broke the silence. "Have any one actually gone against the Volturi before?"

His voice came out low and kind of sad. "I've never heard of anyone going against them and coming out unharmed on the other side."

"What about Maria?"

He gave a chuckle. "Oh, she can be beaten. It's just that she only ever picks fights with stupid groups of vampires with no training."

"Then why's she being so brave about coming after us?" I still couldn't imagine why she'd want to go through all this trouble just to get me and Jasper. I could understand why someone would want him, but not me. I damn sure wasn't worth the others all dying for me.

"You're worth more than ya think darlin'. Not just for your gifts either. I love ya with all my heart and soul. I would die without ya. Don't ever feel worthless." He moved to hover over me. He kissed me softly. "You're worth so much to every member of this family. Not one of us would survive entirely without ya. If ya weren't here it would kill a part of each of them."

"It will kill me if I lose you." I didn't want to survive if Jasper didn't.

"You'll never lose me, darlin'. We'll stay together no matter what. If we go we go together. Either way we're goin' ta be together for eternity baby."

We laid in bed and made love several more times before Alice finally returned. We showered and dressed in the morning. Alice told us that we'd have to pick a new date for the wedding if we wanted to be married before the battle. We decided we'd wait until everyone was back and do it then. We wouldn't do a big, huge thing. We'd have a small family wedding. I had to promise Alice that when we renewed our vows that she could go all out for it.

We said our goodbyes to Alice and headed out to find Garrett. We drove instead of running so it would limit my exposure to humans as we had to pass through towns, but the whole ride I couldn't help but worry how long our eternity would really be.

**Chapter 29**

**I'm sorry this one took so long to get up guys, I had personal technical difficulties.**

**The next chapter is almost done already. I'll have it up just as soon as I can.**

**Next few chapters we'll get to see a lot of new people and I'm hoping to bring a little fun in before the bad guy's arrival.**

**Please comment and review.**


	30. Chapter 31

**Chapter 30**

**I don't own a damn thing it's all for funzies.**

**Beta'd by the stunning ladyluck25**

_**Jasper's POV**_

Bella was pretty quiet the whole way to Portland. Her anxiety was running so high. Every time we passed a human I would see her stiffen and hold her breath from the corner of my eye. I had to smile, even though we were in the car and she couldn't smell them, she still worried that she'd lose control and attack them, even after feeding this morning. I had faith in her, when we had to stop and find Garrett, she'd do just fine. She'd done fine in at the memorial, my baby had amazing self-control.

"Honey, do ya want me ta take the edge off a little for ya or do ya wanna just cope with it?" I asked her as we pulled into Portland.

"Just keep an eye on me and if I look like I can't handle it any more help me." She looked at me with wide worried eyes.

"Don't worry darlin' you're goin' to be fine. You did fine yesterday." I pulled into the parking lot and called Alice.

"He's in a little tavern near Linnton Park, it's on Skyline Blvd. you'll find it." She hung up. I hated talking to her on the phone. She never let you talk and never said goodbye.

I pulled back out of the parking lot and headed in the direction of the tavern. I knew which one it was, I'd been there before. I let out a huff, if Garrett was in the bar it meant he'd struck out with the girl Alice had seen him going after. He'd be pretending to drink and sulk , and looking for a new bed companion. I had no idea why he continued this ridiculous habit.

I was worried that we wouldn't be able to convince him to come back with us. Garrett and I hadn't parted on the best of terms. He damn sure wasn't going to be happy to see me now after all these years.

"So what was Alice talking about, what's the deal with you and this guy? " Bella asked at we pulled up to the bar.

"Um, we use to be sort of friends." I hated this story. "He was with Peter, Charlotte, and me for a while before he left, he wasn't really the family type." That was an understatement. Garrett loved his freedom.

"Yeah, so why is he upset with you?" She had her eyes on the small building. It was just one in the afternoon, but the place was pretty packed already. She was watching humans as they milled around out front.

"The last time I saw him was in Philadelphia, the day I met Alice." Bella looked at me then. I felt the realization coming from her as she assumed where it was going. "He'd met her first and was tryin' his best ta sweep her off her feet when I walked into the dinner. He got real pissed when she just hopped off her seat and started flirtin' with me. We got into a fight before Alice and I left town."

"So how the hell are you planning on getting him to come with us?" She asked "He's going to try and beat your ass the minute he sees us."

"Well I thought maybe you'd go in first and chat him up. He likes the ladies." I smiled at her; she definitely didn't like this idea. She was radiating a little anger and annoyance.

"You want me to go in and flirt with some strange man and hope he'll follow me home?" She was sending me a lot of anger now, it was like heated little pinpricks across my skin.

"No!" I didn't like it when she put it that way. "Just go in, sit down and let him come talk to ya."

"What the hell makes you think that he'll be interested enough in me to come and talk with me?" Even as a stunningly beautiful vampire she still doubted herself.

"Come on baby, surely ya know what ya look like right? I've had to restrain myself so many times because every male you've come into contact with has gotten all hot and bothered over just your presents. Believe me, Garrett will come and talk ta ya. You're exactly his type." I could never really understand why he'd been hitting on Alice the last time I'd seen him. I was pretty sure Alice had been a fun challenge for him and when I stole the challenge he got all pissy. Looking back now every other woman I'd ever seen him with was more like Bella. . "Especially dressed like that."

She'd dressed in a pair of tight boot cut jeans, a red fitted tank top with a black button down shirt over it, which she left half buttoned. She also wore a pair of black boots that Charlotte had given her for her birthday. She definitely looked like a Whitlock . When I asked her what brought on the change in clothing, she just smiled and said that she felt like she needed to a new look to go with her new life. Alice hadn't been thrilled about Bella's fashion change . She'd liked it when my mate had worn the silk dress.

"What if I lose control?" She was scared.

"You'll do fine darlin'. If ya feel like you're gonna lose it just get up and leave. I'll be close enough ta feel ya and be able ta get ta ya in time. Just go in talk ta him, I'll be in soon. I just don't think it'll go well if he sees me first."

Bella huffed and got out of the car. "This is the stupidest fucking idea! "She grumbled. "All because you're too damned proud to confront your past, you want to put people in danger from a newborn vampire!" She slammed the car door.

My sweet mate was way too perceptive when it came to me. I didn't really want to go in and face Garrett and have to admit to him that he'd been right, right along with Peter and Charlotte about Alice not being my mate. Of course he'd said it so much more violently that Peter and Charlotte had. He'd said it while punching me in the face and accusing me of stealing her just because I was jealous of him. I'd beat him in the face while calling him several vulgar names and telling him that someone like him didn't deserve Alice. If he forgave me now, he'd still give me a horribly hard time about being right about her not being my mate.

I pushed the thoughts away. I got out and settled myself by one of the side windows where I could see my mate wondering through the crowd inside. She was right this was a bad plan. Not because she couldn't control herself, she was doing fine. It was because I didn't know if I could handle it. The place was already pretty full for early afternoon, and every man in the bar was lusting after my sweet Bella the minute she stepped in the door. I was having so much trouble staying where I was and not rushing in and wrapping myself around her so they would all know she belonged to me. I wanted to rip their heads off. I took a deep breath and tried to control myself. I spotted Garrett as I scanned the room, and as I expected his eyes followed by baby's swaying hips as she made her way to the back of the bar.

_**Bella's POV**_

This was so stupid. I wasn't stupid. I knew he was just too damn stubborn to face Garrett. The minute the guy found out who I was with he was going to bolt. I took a breath and held it as I entered the bar.

Jasper had been right of course. I could handle this. I tested the waters a little as I walked in. I let out a little breath and sucked a quick one back in. the burning in my throat was there, but it wasn't unbearable. I'd fed once more just before leaving this morning, just in case I had to interact with any humans. I also had the stupid contacts in again, so everything was just a little fuzzy around the edges.

I felt a little uncomfortable at first entering alone. Several people turned to look at me, and were now staring at me. I tried to ignore them and focus on something else. I could feel Jasper outside the side window through our mating bond and I took a little comfort in that, knowing he was there to watch my back. I scanned the place looking for my target. I had no idea what he looked like. I had forgotten to ask and no one had thought to tell me. He was a vampire though and like all vampires he was so much more beautiful than every other man in the room.

He sat at a table in the back corner. He was tall, around Jasper's height, and lanky, but not unattractively so, you could still tell that there was muscle there. His long sandy hair was pulled back in a ponytail. He wore a black sweater under a brown worn leather jacket and a pair of distressed jeans. He hadn't bothered with contacts; I wondered why no one in the bar had noticed. Maybe they thought he was just wearing a pair of those goth contacts. His features were handsome, but rough somehow. Unlike all the other vampire men I'd seen he had facial hair, just a dusting of stubble. It suited him, I could easily see him working on a ranch with Peter and Jasper.

I tried to figure out how to proceed. This was all so stupid to me. I didn't know why I Couldn't just go up to the man and tell him who I was and what I needed. Fuck it!I thought and instead of waiting on him to come to me, I would go to him.

He watched me eagerly as I approached, his eyes raking over me and practically undressing me. Jasper was right again, the man seemed to like the ladies without an ounce of subtlety. I didn't waste any time with pleasantries. I wanted to get this over with.

He smiled up at me.

"Hi I'm Bella." I stuck my hand out and he shook it. "Stop trying to eye fuck me, I need a favor."

Garrett's POV

My mouth practically watered the minute the tiny little treat walked in. She was the most stunning creature I'd ever seen. Long silky chestnut hair hanging loose down her back, her pale skin perfect, full kissable lips, and an oh so very fuckable body in a pair of tight jeans. I didn't like the violet color of her eyes. She was trying to hide what she was with a pair of contacts.

I never wore the damn things. They were uncomfortable, and humans never really cared about our eyes. They always assumed the red was due to colored contacts. I wanted her to take them out so that I could look into those beautiful rubies while I pleasured her.

She started to walk to a table a little ways from mine but turned and headed for me instead. I was pleased that she wasn't going to be one of those stuck up bitches who acted like I wasn't there, like other vampire women I'd met over the years. Most vampire women were very high maintenance and stuck up. That's why I preferred most of my women to be human. Humans came with so much less drama than vampires. Plus if they got on my nerves to much they made a nice snack.

I took another long look at her delicious looking body, then smiled up at her as she stopped in front of my table.

She stuck her hand out to me and I shook it. "Hi I'm Bella." She informed me. Bella, beautiful in Italian, the name suited her so perfectly. "Stop trying to eye fuck me, I need a favor." Oh she was going to be a little firecracker.

"Well, pretty lady, how about ya have a seat and tell me what ya want from me. I'm sure we can work somethin' out." I reached over and pulled the chair out for her.

She rolled her eyes and ignored my offered seat and took the one across from me. As she sat I caught her scent. There were several familiar scents coming off her. I could smell the familiar aroma of the Cullens on her. But she had red eyes so she wasn't one of them. There was something else over her own sweet smell, something familiar. I just couldn't place it though. Where did I know that smell from?

"Look," she started looking at me very seriously. "My family and I are in a lot of trouble. I was told that you're an old family friend. So I need you to come home with me and help us out."

"Oh honey I'd be happy ta go home with ya. And who is your family?" I smiled at her. She was a frank straight to the point kind of girl. I liked that. Damn it that smell was getting on my last nerve, why couldn't I place it?

"Oh, I'm sorry I probably should have started with that." she got a little crease between her eyes, as she concentrated on what she wanted to say. She was just too damn cute. "My family are the Cullens. I was told you were friends with Carlisle. Also, you wish!"

"Why are your eyes red if ya live with the Cullens?" I leaned forward on my elbow so I could speak to her a little quieter. I didn't want any of the humans over hearing.

"Because I'm new." She said it like that should be obvious. If she was new enough that she still had red eyes in the Cullen clan, she shouldn't be able to come into a bar full of humans without tearing the place apart. And she definitely wouldn't be out and about alone.

I scanned the bar and couldn't see any one. "Look here little girl, I think ya need ta go home before ya get yourself into trouble. Ya shouldn't be out unescorted." She didn't look happy. "Or maybe ya just need ta come on back ta my hotel with me for a little bit a fun." I grinned at the infuriated look on her face.

She growled at me low, just loud enough for me to hear. I'll be damned if it didn't turn me on. "Call me little girl again and I'll wipe that grin off your face slim." Oh she was going to be so much fun! I lost the grin though as an evil smile spread across her beautiful pouty lips, and I felt a presence behind me. The smell coming off of her got stronger behind me and I placed it without having to turn around and see him. "And I'm not out alone."

I closed my eyes and tried so very hard not to let my anger get the better of me. I would not start a fight in a bar full of witnesses. That's all I needed was to have the Volturi on my ass for exposing us.

"How's it goin' brother?" Jasper's southern voice reached my ears and I almost snapped.

"You're no brother of mine!" I snapped at him and opened my eyes to the amused smile of the beautiful women across from me. Jasper's smell wasn't just on her, they weren't just lovers. His smell was mingled with hers in a way that indicated that they were mated.

The son of a bitch had taken Alice from me and now he was here mated to another woman! A sexy as sin women who I wanted to let violate me and so many naughty ways. I heard him growl at me as he felt my lust for her. I winked at her. He growled louder.

"Jasper, stop that!" She snapped at him.

I arched a brow at her as he answered. "Sorry darlin', just forgot myself for a moment." This little creature had tamed the damn Major! I was pretty sure I was in love.

"Why don't we take this outside in case you two jackasses can't control yourselves?" She got up without an answer and walked out the bar as if we'd just follow without question.

We did. There was no way I wasn't following that sexy woman. She was sitting cross-legged on the hood of a black 1968 Dodge Charger. If she was nude she'd be my dream pin up girl.

Jasper moved to lean against the car near her, ruining my fantasy. Well I guessed we should just get down to business. "What the hell do you want?" I snarled at him, I couldn't help but smile when I heard the little beauty growl at me again. I was betting she was an animal in bed.

"The family needs ya Garrett." He reached over and ran his fingers through her hair to calm her, but kept his eyes on me. It looked at little too familiar to images of the past. "I know me and you have had our differences, but we were brothers once and I need your help ta keep my mate safe."

"What happened to Alice?" My voice came out low. I was trying so hard to control the anger I felt at him for our past, but it was just too damn hard while I watched him touch her knowing he'd taken something from me and thrown it away for someone else.

I hadn't known Alice long, and admittedly I'd been more interested in the chase at first. But I had cared for her in the end. She'd blocked every advance I'd thrown at her, but she stayed friendly, which had left me with hope. Then Jasper just came strolling in and swept her off her feet. I never stood a chance.

Jasper could obviously feel the furious emotions surging through me. "Baby, no matter what happens, try not ta get in the middle okay." He took her hand and laid a kiss on the back of it.

Bella looked a little annoyed at his command, "Whatever." She said with a huff.

Jasper stepped a little closer to me. "Alice still lives with the Cullens."

"So ya took her and then just threw her away after ya got this one?" I motioned to his mate.

"No!" He looked at me like he was surprised I'd even think such a thing about him. "She left me! She found her true mate at the same time I found Bella."

Well hell, I just couldn't catch a fucking break. I had entertained the idea of going with them just to see if I could kindle a flame with the tiny pixie. She was mated to someone else now. What the hell was it with the Cullens? The minute you entered their coven you found your mate. Hell, I was tired of being alone. I was tired of wondering. I wanted a mate. Or at least a good companion.

I had to deal with my anger at Jasper first. "Ya knew ya weren't mates! Why did ya have ta come in and steal her away?" I yelled at him.

"I didn't steal her! She jumped ship!" Jasper yelled back at me.

"Like hell!" I took a step towards him. The little one growled, but I ignored her. "You were jealous and just couldn't stand ta see me happy!"

"That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard! Why the fuck would I be jealous of you?" he took a step towards me.

"You were always a jealous little shit! Ya couldn't stand it when I beat ya at anything!" He'd always been a sore loser when we'd spared.

"I think you're just a stupid old man who can't deal with the fact that ya couldn't get the girl!" He reached out and shoved my shoulder.

"Do that again and I'll whip your ass in front of your girl, little boy!" I growled out at him.

"Bring it on, grandpa!" He shoved me again.

I chuckled at him, and then I punched him in the face. He stumbled back, but then charged me catching me around the waist and picking me up. He threw us into the woods out of site of the humans. I flung him off me.

He turned and landed on his feet in a crouched position. We roared at each other and charged. When we hit it sounded like boulders colliding.. "Ya could have had any one ya wanted! Why'd ya have ta take her!" I yelled at him as we landed on the ground, Jasper under me.

I began punching him in the face again. He hit me in the chest sending me flying off him. He was there before I could get myself turned to land on my feet and he forced me down to the ground on my back. "I didn't take her! She said we were supposed to be together and we were suppose ta go find the Cullen's together! She was never with ya! And ya could have had anybody ya wanted to! Ya only wanted her cuz ya couldn't have her!" He hit me with every statement he made.

I got my leg up between us and kicked out sending him flying into a tree. It cracked around the base and fell over. We squared off and began to charge each other again, but we didn't make it. We hit an invisible wall just before we reached each other and fell back.

"What the fuck!" I put my hand out after I picked myself up. "What is that?" I ran my hand along the clear barrier.

"Bella, baby, let me out so I can finish this shit." He spoke softly to his mate who was standing with her arms crossed over her chest and glaring at both of us angrily.

"No! You shut your mouth, I'm finishing this!" She snapped at him.

"Your mate has a physical shield?" She was so fucking amazing.

"Yeah, she's talented. " He said proudly.

"Zip it! Both of you!"S he yelled at us.

"Look here little girl, ya might be able ta keep us from beatin' each other's ass right now. But ya can't keep us in here forever. Now let me out!" She glared at me. "And I don't take orders from women."

"Garrett, brother I wouldn't…" Jasper started, but I didn't hear the rest.

Holy fucking Christ! I felt like my entire body was on fire from the inside out! I dropped to my knees and screamed trying to get the invisible flames out.

"Bella!" I heard Jasper yell from somewhere in the distance. "We need him!" the fire receded.

"Don't yell at me about what I do to him! You were just trying to kill each other! And drawing attention from the humans in the bar! You two weren't exactly quiet!" I sat up and stared at her. She was shaking her finger at him as she yelled. "You better be glad I'm not kicking your ass Jasper Whitlock!"

"What did I do?" He protested.

"We came to ask for his help! And the two of you start fighting over stupid bullshit that happened years before my father was even born! This shit is stupid! It was in the past! Why the hell are you in the middle of the woods fighting over your ex?"

"Baby, I didn't mean…"

"Shut it!" She cut him off. "You lost your turn to talk when you turned it into a pissing match!" I was a little surprised to see the Major clam up. "And you!" she turned to me. I scrambled to my feet. "Alice knew she wasn't your mate! That's why she turned your ass down! She only went with Jasper because she saw them with the Cullens and it was the only way to get him there! It was forever ago! Pull on your big girl panties and suck it up! It's not like she was your mate, she was just some girl you were trying to nail!" She took a deep breath trying to calm herself. "Now, if I let the two of you out can you control yourself and stop acting like children?"

"Yes ma'am." We both said in unison.

"Work this shit out now, civilly! We don't have time for it! Our family is in danger!" She turned away from us and headed back in the direction of the car. "I'm the newborn and they're fighting like a bunch of spoiled children!" She grumbled as she left.

We stood in silence until she was gone. Then we looked at each other uncomfortably. I was too damn scared to fight with him again. Whatever she did to me hurt worse than having my arm ripped off.

"Your mate is a frightening little thing." I told him.

"Yeah, she's something." He gave me a weak smile. "I didn't take her man. She told me she'd had visions of us together with Cullens."

"Yeah I know." He looked at me surprised. "Peter told me a few years after."

"Then why the hell are ya still pissed?"He huffed at me. "She made me think we were mates! It wasn't my fault."

"I don't like ta lose." I grumbled. He stared at me open mouthed for a minute, then we both broke out in laughter. "Who's comin' for your family?" I asked through the chuckles.

"Maria wants me and Bella. And the Volturi want Alice and Edward." He stopped laughing.

"That's some strong enemies ya guys have made." I thought about it for a few minutes. "Did ya already inform Peter?"

"He was there when we got the news. He and Charlotte took Bella under their wing while she was still human." What the hell!

"You've got ta be shittin' me!" He just smiled and shook his head. "She won Peter over? While she was human?" He shook his head again with a big grin.

"She's amazing." Yuck! You could hear it in his voice. He was head over heels for the tiny frightening creature. I wanted that too.

"Ya know I'll back ya. Even if I still wanted ta kick your ass I'd back ya." I slapped him on the shoulder. "There ain't anybody kickin' your ass but me and Peter, and maybe Emmett." We both laughed and then headed back out to Bella.

Bella's POV

I stomped back to the car and sat back down on the hood. I glanced around at the humans. There were only a couple still standing around outside. Thankfully no one was still trying to figure out where all the loud noise was coming from any more. The two idiots had made such a ruckus that I thought someone would surely call the cops. Thankfully they hadn't.

I could hear them chumming it up now. I would never understand men. They were trying to kill each other not five minutes ago, now they were the best of friends! I wanted to kick both their asses.

"So what happened to your fluff?" I asked Garrett as he and Jasper stopped in front of me.

"Excuse me?" He gave a surprised laugh.

"Alice said you were on your way to visit, but got distracted by some woman." I informed him.

"Um, I don't really keep a woman for more than a couple of weeks." He admitted with an embarrassed looking smile.

"Did you eat her?"

"Bella!" I could feel Jasper's shock , but amusement at my bluntness.

"Ya mean sexually or did I drain her?" Garrett asked with a smile.

I thought about it for a minute. He was trying to shock me back. I could play this game. "Both."

"Isabella!" Jasper said shocked again. He just smiled and shook his head at me.

"Jasper!" I mocked him with a smile.

"Both." Garrett said bluntly and watched for my reaction.

"Was she tasty?" I wasn't going to lie I was a little curious about how a human differed taste wise from animals. But I still wasn't going to try it firsthand. So I'd just ask.

"Not really." Garrett scrunched up his nose and smiled. I smiled too.

"So are you game for a fight?" I asked hopping down off the car.

Jasper wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my temple. "Garrett is always up for a fight baby." He nudged my chin up to look at him. "I though ya said ya didn't want ta try the other diet."

"I don't. Diabetics can't have the cookies in the cookie jar, but that doesn't keep them from wondering what they taste like now does it?" he laughed and kissed me on the mouth.

"I love ya, ya cheeky little devil." He kissed me again.

"Hey, hey, hey enough of that gushy stuff. If we're goin' ta do this lets go before you two give me a cavity with that shit!" Garrett said and walked to the passenger side and held the door open for me.

"Um, what do you think you're doing?" I asked putting my hands on my hips and trying to look sternly at him.

"Uh," He looked a little nervous like he was afraid I was angry at him again. "I was just opening the door for ya. I can't fit in the back seat firecracker."

"Oh hell no! You and Jasper can fight over the back seat. I'm driving." I stuck my hand in Jasper's pocket and came up with the keys. I gave him a kiss. "Thank you baby."

"Please be gentle." He kissed me back. "Garrett, I call shotgun!"

"Damnit!" Garrett grumbled. "We at least have ta go by my hotel and get my satchel."

I laughed as Garrett struggled into the back sitting sideways with his body on the driver's side of the car and his legs stretch over in the passenger side. Jasper and I crawled in and I sped away following Garrett's directions to his hotel. Watching the tall vampire shift around and try and get comfortable in the back seat was one of the most comical things I'd seen this week.

_**Edward's POV**_

I couldn't take the stupid grin off my face. This was the most amusing and enjoyable thing I'd seen this decade. I'd waited by the treaty line for several hours while Jacob and Paul took care of their business and caught a little sleep. Then we ran the entire way to Denali. We made really good time. The two of them in their wolf form could almost give me a run for my money.

The minute Tanya opened the door to us my entertainment began. The moment Jacob and Tanya looked at each other they were smitten. Jacob had imprinted on her.

"Jake man, you can't be serious!" Paul squawked at him. "She's a blood sucker!"

Jacob kept his eyes on Tanya, who was standing by the fire place smiling while she eye fucked him, while he answered Paul. "I don't know what to tell you man. She's the one." he had a big goofy grin on his face. "And don't talk about her that way! She's the mate of your alpha; you'll show her respect or be punished!"

I was very surprised that Tanya had accepted the whole situation so easily. The moment she looked at Jacob she said she knew he belonged to her. He wasn't her usual type at all. Tanya was a very unobtainable, stunningly beautiful, short but leggy vampire with long curly strawberry blond hair and a body that made every man and some women who looked at her drool. Her usual type was those blonde haired blue eyed surfer looking guys.

"This is ridiculous! If you thought your dad freaked over you being friends with them what the hell makes you think he'll ever accept you being mated to one of them? Not to mention that the… um…oh… uh… wow." Paul's voice and thoughts both trailed off into nothing.

I turned to see Irina, Tanya's sister walk into the room. Irina was shorter than Tanya, not nearly as leggy and slender, but she was by no means a large girl. She was just as beautiful as her sister though, her hair was blond, almost silver, that she kept cut into a blunt straight cut right at her chin.

I let out a loud laugh as I heard her thoughts. She was thinking that Paul was the most beautiful man she'd ever set eyes on. She was also thinking that he smelled strange, and that he'd have to have a bath before she would claim him as her mate.

My pleasure at the situation grew, shifted, and fizzled out when Paul's brain caught up and started functioning again.

'Oh my god! This can't be happening to me!' He thought and his whole body began to tremble. 'My imprint cannot be a leach!'Then his thoughts shifted as Irina walked towards him putting more sway into her hips than was necessary. 'Oh sweet Jesus thank you for a hot fucking mate!' Well there might just be hope for him yet. I wasn't too worried about it. From what I could see in the wolves' heads about imprinting, Paul would be unable to hurt his mate, and would do whatever it took to make her happy.

"What's your name pretty boy?" Irina purred at him.

"P-Paul." He squeaked to her. He coughed and swallowed several times before he could find his voice again. "Paul Lahote, Beta to the Quileute pack." He tried to say it proudly, but his voice was shaky. He was still flip flopping in his head from thanking several deities for his sexy imprint, and cursing them for giving him a vampire.

"A wolf!" Irina yelled with a smile. "You hear that Tanya? I have a shifter mate!" Irina was amused and a little irritated that her mate was a dog, but she was so thrilled to have a mate period that she'd just deal with it. From what I could read from the two of them they would make a good couple once they got past their initial issues.

"I got one too, sister." She purred as Jacob stepped closer to her and she reached out touching his face. "What's your name big boy?" He was a giant next to his mate, so was Paul for that matter.

"Jacob Black, Alpha of the Quileute pack." Jacob had already accepted his mate so completely his voice came out strong and proud. "What's your name, beautiful?" He asked and wrapped an arm around her waist bringing her very close to him.

"Tanya." Her answer came out breathy as she rested her hands on Jacobs's broad chest.

"Paul, don't you want to know your mates name?" I asked with a chuckle. He was still just standing staring at Irina.

Jacob caught what I'd said. "Ha! Now you can't talk bitch!" He laughed with me at Paul who was still staring dumbfounded at his small mate.

"W-what's your n-name?" Gone was the cocky pain in the ass wolf who'd offered himself to Bella even after she'd been turned. He'd been replaced with a puppy that looked like he might wet himself any minute.

"Irina." She was standing so close to him they were almost touching.

"What's going on in here?" The third Denali sister Kate came into the room. Kate was the tallest of the three sisters, only by an inch. She was just as stunning as her two sisters with long straight blond hair. She was thinner than both of her sisters. It was very hard to decide which of the succubus sisters was the most beautiful.

"Irina, Tanya, are you going to introduce me to your friends?" She smiled happily seeing male house guests. It wasn't uncommon for the girls to simply pass a bed mate around before they sent him on his way, and Kate was very attacked to the two wolves.

Tanya and Irina turned and hissed at their sister. She looked stunned at them.

"Hello, Kate." I said trying to get her attention off her sister's mates before there was an all-out cat fight in the living room floor.

"Edward!" She smiled and hugged me. "What brings you here? And why are my sisters acting so bitchy?"

"Well I've come barring bad news and to ask a great favor of your coven, cousin." I smiled down at her. "And as for your sisters, I believe they've found their mates in my wolf companions."

Kate looked back to her sisters in shock. Finding your mate in the vampire world was usually a race thing. Now here both of her sisters were finding mates at the same time. She was jealous, but happy for them. I couldn't think of anything to do other than pat her on the shoulder. I knew exactly how she felt. Everyone in my family except me had found their mate. But I wasn't going to get down about it. If what Alice had discussed with me was true, then I too would find my mate very soon. She'd refused to tell me when and where I'd find my mate, but that it would be soon. I trusted my sister, so I would be patient.

"Carmen, Eleazar, get in here!" Kate called for the last two members of the Denali clan.

They came in holding hands. They had been the only mated pair in the clan until now. Eleazar was the tallest of the Denali's at 5'11, he was a slender man with black hair he kept cut short, no longer than his collar, his mate Carmen was short like the sisters, but she was the polar opposite as they were with long brown wavy hair, and a more shall we say voluptuous body. She like the girls was by no means chunky, but she definitely had more curves than the others. She and Eleazar both had more of an olive coloring to their pale skin due to their Spanish heritage.

"Edward, my dear boy what brings you to visit us?" Eleazar smiled at me and shook my hand.

"It's been too long dear Edward!" Carmen hugged me. The smile slipped from her face when she noticed her family members. Tanya and Jacob were getting more and more comfortable with each other by the second. If they continued on this course they'd be groping each other in front of us before the next thirty minutes passed.

Paul and Irina had gone back to staring at each other. In their heads they were sizing each other up, trying to decide how to handle the other. They were going to have a rough go of it if neither of them were willing to relinquish a little control. I couldn't help but laugh at them again. Paul shot me an unfriendly look.

I turned back to Carmen, Kate, and Eleazar. "Your girls have found their mates in my companions." I informed them.

"Oh, how wonderful!" Carmen clapped her hand together with a grin.

"Yes, that's great." Eleazar agreed. "But what has brought you here, Edward? Is Carlisle well? How is the rest of the family?" He was no fool. He knew I'd come with a purpose.

"Yes, everyone is very well. Jasper has found his true mate, so we have a new addition." I wanted to catch them up on the whole situation.

"Oh, no! Is Alice devastated?" Kate asked, looking sad for my pixie sister. But inside she had a little smugness. She'd always known Alice and Jasper weren't mates and she'd made no secret of her thoughts. She was happy to have been right. She didn't think that Alice suited Jasper. Kate had always been quite fond of Jasper.

"No, she's quite pleased with the whole situation. She's found her true mate as well, although she's keeping him a secret from us for the time being. But she loves Jasper's mate Bella dearly." Now came the bad news. "However, Jasper's Sire Maria had her eye on Bella before she moved here and she'd coming to try and collect both Jasper and his mate."

"Have you contacted the Volturi?" Carmen asked. "Surely they would be willing to step in and help their old friend Carlisle."

I didn't miss the flinch that came from the girls as Carmen mentioned the Volturi. Their mother had died by the Volturi hand for crimes against our kind. She'd created an immortal child. Children turned before they were old enough to care for themselves, and who had no self-control when it came to feeding. It was one of our strictest laws, the only law was to keep our kind a secret, and any human who was made aware of our kind had to be turned or killed to protect us. The girls loved and missed their mother dearly but they understood the need to keep our kind a secret. That knowledge however still did not make them friends of the Volturi.

"Aro is assisting Maria in her quest." They all looked at me in surprise. "He wishes to obtain Alice and myself for his own benefit."

"This doesn't surprise me." Eleazar said with anger. "Aro enjoys collecting the gifted. I have no doubt one day he will come for me again, and Kate as well."

"What does Kate do?" Jacob had stopped cuddling up with his mate long enough to join in the conversation for a moment. Tanya on the other hand kept her arms around Jacob's waist and rested her head against him.

"I have an electrical current that I can project over my body." She'd used it on me once for grabbing her arm . It was by no means a pleasant experience.

"What do you wish of us, Edward?" Carmen got us back on topic.

"We're asking any of our friends that are willing, to stand with us. Carlisle and Esme have gone to Egypt for Amun's help. Rosalie and Emmett have gone to Ireland for Siobhan's assistance. Jasper and Bella have gone in search of Garrett, and Jasper's brother Peter and his mate Charlotte have gone in search of whatever nomad friend they can find. I've come here to beg for your help."

Carmen and Eleazar looked at each other with sad expressions. I could see it in their heads, they did want to help, but they were unwilling to put their own family in danger to do so. I had an ace up my sleeve so to speak though.

"I understand completely. If you'll excuse us we must be getting back. We have to prepare." I turned to the two wolves. Jacob had gone back to paying attention to his new mate. His hand was currently gliding over her bottom, as he bent down closer to her like he wanted to kiss her. She just smiled up at him and kept her hands roaming over his muscular arms and chest.

Paul and Irina were still just staring at each other. He was wondering if she would slap him if he tried to touch her. She was wondering if he was ever going to try and touch her.

"Boys, I'm sorry but we have to get back. We have a family to protect." I told them in a grave voice.

"What?" Jacob looked at me in confusion. He'd gotten so wrapped up in his lovely mate that he'd forgotten about the issues back home. "Oh right." His face creased in anxiety. "Um, sorry beautiful, but I have to go, I'll be back if I survive." I could always count on Jacob to say the right thing.

Paul surprised me though, which doesn't happen often for a mind reader. "Come with me." He said to Irina. "I have to stand by my family, but I'm not leaving here without you."

Irina grinned and grabbed ahold of Paul's hand. "Okay!" Paul smiled as well. Hmm, he should do that more often. I had a feeling that he would be now that he'd found his mate.

"Wait a minute!" Kate tried to interject.

"I'm going, too!" Tanya grabbed Jacob's hand and smiled up at him. "I'm not letting my mate go off and fight without me! You guys do what you want. Irina, let's pack." With that the two were gone.

"I go where my sisters go." Kate declared and left to pack with her sisters.

"We will not set idly by while our girls put their lives on the line." Carmen announced. "And we owe Carlisle more than just sitting on the sidelines hoping he comes out alive on the other side. We will come and help." They went to pack as well.

An hour later we were on the road, I rode in Kate's car with her, Eleazar, and Carmen. Jacob and Paul rode with their new mates in Tanya's car. The girls had packed far too many clothes to have to run with. I couldn't wait to get back home so everyone could see the new mated pairs. I was sure Jacob and Paul would be taking a lot of grief from the pack. But what I really couldn't wait for was for Emmett and Bella to start in on them. I had to admit that since I found out I'd be mated soon I was feeling much more carefree and enjoying the teasing that went on between my big little brother and our new little sister.

Now if we could just keep us all alive long enough for me to actually see my mate all would be perfect.

**Chapter 30**

**I hope you all enjoy this one. I'm working on the next chapter already and will have it up as soon as possible. Please comment and review.**


	31. Chapter 32

_Chapter 31_

_I still own nothing, all for funzies._

_Beta'd by the marvelous ladyluck25_

_**Jasper's POV**_

On the ride back to Forks we had one of the scariest conversations I'd eve r had in my very long life. Bella was driving, and thinking very hard, her anxiety riding high. She kept flexing her grip on the steering wheel, I was a little afraid she was going to break it. She reached into her pocket and came up with an orange lolly pop.

"Is she eating candy?" Garrett asked with a chuckle.

"Yes, she uses them to get the taste of the foods she misses. " I told him keeping my eyes on my stressed little mate. I wanted to know what was going on in her head.

"Hmm," Garrett said thoughtfully. "I never really considered that." he sat forward poking his head between the seats. "How does that taste little fire cracker?"

Without saying a word she pulled the candy out of her mouth and stuffed it into his. "Do you want kids?" she asked not taking her eyes off the road.

I tried to open my mouth and answer her, but the only thing that came out was an odd choking noise. My throat seemed to be trying to close up, not to mention that my brain had short circuited and I couldn't think of a coherent response. Where the hell was this coming from? We couldn't have children.

Garrett was cackling around his mouth full of sucker from the back seat. "Shut the fuck up!" well, at least my brain was working again. I glared back at him. "Honey, do ya think we should wait and have this conversation once we get home?"

"No." she was still staring straight ahead. "Once we get home all kinds of shit will be going down, and we'll have more guests. I was waiting to talk to you about it at a better time, but what if there isn't going to be a better time." I was really afraid that she wanted children and didn't understand yet that we couldn't have them. What would I do if she turned out to regret this life like Rosalie? Esme had made due with treating all of us like children, none of us had minded, but we knew we were just poor substitutes.

I looked back at Garrett. A moment of understanding flowed between us and he looked at me with pity. He sat back and stared out the back widow giving us what privacy he could in the small car. "Baby, we can't have babies." I said in a gentle voice, and taking her hand from the steering wheel and holding it in mine.

Amusement ran across me. She thought I was joking. "I know that dummy!" she chuckled at me. "But we didn't discuss it before I was turned. There was still the option then. I know we can't have kids ourselves, but if you wanted kids, we could adopt."

I couldn't help it, I had to laugh. "I don't know darlin'. I've never really thought about the option of kids. I don't know if our life style is really the best to bring a child into." That definitely wasn't my biggest issue with the whole kids thing was more of a 'what the hell right did I have raising kids' kind of thing. I had done so many horrible things in my life. I was no role model for a child.

"Why would our lifestyle be so bad? we could raise an orphaned child in a very privileged, loving home. what's the bad part here?" she was truly confused about why I thought raising a child in a house full of vampires was a bad idea.

"Darlin', what if one of us lost control? What if our child saw one of us feeding? How would we explain that ta a little kid? Not ta mention all the other dangers that come along with living in our world." I didn't want to say it, but I could feel the sadness come over her when she realized I was talking about her father's death. I felt like an ass for making her remember that horrible night.

"Well," Garrett said from the backseat, obviously done with giving us our privacy. "Maybe we'll get lucky and get ta burn Maria and the Volturi and there would be a significant drop in the danger area."

"Yeah, because that's real fucking helpful Garrett. Even if the Volturi were gone, the options for those who knew about us would still be the same." I glared at him. They both radiated confusion. "Once our child was old enough we'd still either have to turn them or kill them. I seriously doubt that fact would change with the fall of the Volturi! The other clans wouldn't stand for us endangering them by bringing a human up in our world."

"Well, why is that a bad thing?" Bella asked. I just stared at her. "So we raise a baby, and love it like it was our own. Then when our child was old enough we would change them. Why would we raise a child and watch them grow old and die when we could live together forever?" she was just so rational and calm about all of this.

I just smiled at her. I didn't want to make a decision right now. I wanted to wait until we didn't have doom bearing down on us to decide these things. "Hell, fire cracker, if he won't have a baby with ya, I will. Ya might have more fun tryin' ta make a baby with me than him anyway." Garrett laughed and leaned up between the seats again with the sucker still hanging out of his mouth.

Bella reached over and jerked it out of his mouth and tossed it out her window. "Thanks any way pervy boy, but I think we've established that we can't make babies."

"Yeah, but tryin' is so much fun." He wiggled his eye brows at her making me growl at him.

"Be that as it may, I wouldn't be one of your conquests if you were the last male on earth." She spat at him." I squeezed her hand getting her attention back on me.

"Fine." She grumbled.

We rode the rest of the way to Forks in silence. Garrett was sulking at being spurred by Bella. Bella was still anxious and moody. I was having a hell of a time keeping my own emotions in check surrounded by the moody twins. It was only going to get worse once every one else arrived. I might have to take a solo trip to the cabin to get away from all the extra emotion. I was worried how Bella might take that as well.

To be honest I'd been worried about her meeting Garrett. I was still scared about her meeting the others who would be coming into our home. I trusted my Bella completely, but she was only eighteen and a new born to boot. I had been the only man she'd ever been with. What would I do if she decided she needed to explore things? I'd known one or two mated pairs over the year that had relationships like that. They would live apart for short periods of time and have other relationships while they did. I didn't think I was a modern enough man to handle an open relationship.

I was so pleased that I hadn't felt any lust from her for Garrett. She seemed to like him alright, but they were clearly going to have a jokingly love hate relationship. I was praying to every deity I could think of that she felt that way over all the males who were going to be milling around our home soon.

_**Bella's POV**_

Well, that talk could have gone better. I should have waited for a better time. But hell when were we ever going to have a better time? I should have waited to bring it up until after the battle. I certainly shouldn't have brought it up in front of Mr. Suave in the back seat. I was betting he and Emmett were going to be good friends.

"Garrett, will ya help me get Bella trained up until Peter gets back and helps me?" Jasper asked.

"Why do I need training? I seem to be able to handle my powers just fine." I grumbled at him.

"Powers? Like as in plural? How many do ya have fire cracker?" Garrett asked scrambling out of the back seat.

"Enough to make ya suffer, and beg me for more." I smiled at him.

"Excuse me?" Garrett stood with his hands on his hips looking at me in confusion. I cut my eyes at Jasper, who was getting Garrett's one measly bag from the trunk. He winked at me and smiled. I took that as a confirmation that it was okay to show Garrett what I meant.

I looked at him and touched that glowing spot inside me; I pushed it out at him. I laughed as his eyes rolled back into his head, and he hit his knees. Garrett made one of those scrunched up sort of twisted orgasm faces and I laughed and pulled it back.

He hit the ground on his back. "Holly fuckin' shit, fire cracker." He panted. "Are ya sure you're happy with the major? Cuz I'd be willing ta share if ya change your mind."

I walked over and stood over him. "Nah, I'm pretty sure no one could compare to my sweet cowboy. And even if you could, he's all I'll ever want."

Jasper came up behind me wrapping his arms around my waist. "Damn straight baby!"

"Now, why am I being trained?" I asked again.

"Just because ya have control over your abilities now doesn't mean you'd have control in the heat of battle with all the chaos. Also, I'm not goin' ta leave ya defenseless if for any reason you're gifts don't work on some of those comin' for us. I want to make sure you're skilled enough ta take their asses apart baby." He kissed my temple and swatted my bottom. "Now come on let's get Garrett squared away so we can have some alone time before we start." I could feel the lust coming off him.

"Hmm, guess that's a good enough reason." I didn't mind training. I wanted to be able to handle myself after all the newborn strength wore off. Then I'd still be able to wipe the floor with Emmett, and I wouldn't have to use abilities and he couldn't say I cheated.

Garrett picked himself up, and we made our way into the house to find Alice. The entire house looked like she was in the middle of redecorating. There were silk streamers the same colors as the orchid bouquets and orange blossoms draped from the center of the room all the way out and down each wall. There were empty crystal vases, and candle holders sitting around everywhere.

"Oh damn! You're back earlier than I thought you would be!" Alice chirped from the kitchen. "We really need to figure out a way for me to see around Bella!"

"Well, hey there stranger!" Garrett crowed happily.

Alice launched herself across the room and landed in his arms. "Yuck Garrett, why do you smell like sex?" she pulled herself out of his hug. "Don't you ever bath after you fondle your conquests?"

"It's not my fault! You're newbie did something ta me!" he wasn't looking as happy with my ability as he'd had before.

"Oh," Alice smiled at him. "Isn't it interesting? She quite talented you know. And we all love her so much! She's great! And she's made Jasper so happy. I didn't think he'd ever be this happy. Would you like a shower? I'm glad you made it by the way. I've miss you so much! How have things been? I'm sorry about the girl, but you know you could have just called me and I would have told you if she was your mate. Or you could have called Charlotte you know." Alice seemed to have no off switch.

"Well, I see ya haven't changed much." Garrett hugged her again. "Although, I hear ya got yourself a true mate, too. I guess that mean you're officially off the market now?" he smiled at her, but you could still see the sadness behind his eyes. He had really cared about her. I felt bad for him. I hoped he found his true mate soon. I was betting all the sleeping around every one kept hinting around about with Garrett was him searching for his mate. Alice just smiled and shook her head at him.

Speaking of mates, "You seem to be doing much better Alice." She just smiled at me. "Is your mate close by?" I asked. She didn't seem to be in any pain at all now. Surely he was close.

"No, Bella. He's closer, but still not here. I'm just managing it better." She smiled. I wasn't sure I believed her.

"She's tellin' the truth baby." Jasper wrapped his arms around me again. "She's still in pain. It's just not as bad." he kissed the back of my neck.

"What's with the home makeover?" I asked pushing the subject of her mate away. She wasn't going to tell us who or where he was anyway.

"Oh!" she perked right up. "I wanted to get everything ready for the wedding!"

"Did we change the date? I'm pretty sure we have plenty of time, Alice. What's the rush?" the smile fell from her face. "Why are we changing the date? I'm pretty sure we have plenty of time before we have to start decorating." I chuckled at her.

"You saw something else, didn't you?" Jasper asked.

"They'll be here before Christmas, so if you guys want to be married before they arrive it has to be before then. Maria is taking a little time to familiarize herself with her new recruits before she heads this way." She said in a sad voice. "I saw them coming in early December." Well that gave us a little under two months to get me trained. "I just thought you guys might like the option of getting married when all of our family and friends are here. I'll make it beautiful Bella, everything will be perfect I promise."

"What do ya think darlin'? Do ya wanna push the wedding date up or do ya wanna wait until after?" Jasper asked with a smile. He was trying to keep it light so I didn't freak out more than I already really wanted to.

I'd been anxious the entire time we were gone. I'd been worrying about my control, about the others. I was hoping in vain that some of them would be home by the time we arrived. But I knew that was dumb. Most of them wouldn't be back for days yet.

"Yeah, we'll wait for everyone to get back and we'll do the wedding then." I wanted to make sure we were married before they came. I didn't know why but I wanted to be tied to him every way I could before the worst might happen. At least we'd get a little happiness before it all went to hell.

"Oh goody!" Alice clapped her hands together. "Now Garrett you may use my bathroom to shower. Jacob owns the guest room now."

"Who's Jacob?" Garrett asked as she led him up the stairs.

"HE's Bella's brother. He's a werewolf." Alice informed him.

"No shit!" He chuckled. "Fire cracker!"

"Jasper, Edward called just before you arrived. He says they have a big surprise for us, and that they'll be here in the morning. And no, Bella, before you ask I don't know what the surprise is. I can't see it while the wolves are with them." she called back to us.

Hmm a surprise, maybe he'd be showing us why he was so damn happy lately. I started going over all the possibilities in my head, but they were quickly chased away.

Jasper wrapped his arms around me and began pulling me towards our bedroom. I felt that familiar tingle of excitement and pleasure slide up my spine as he tugged at the buttons on my shirt. "Did I tell ya how much I love this outfit?" he whispered against my neck as she trailed kisses along my skin and slid the shirt down my arms.

"Uh, uh." I couldn't come up with another answer while his tongue slid across that spot where my neck and shoulder met.

"I think it would look much better on the floor though." He slid his hands under the hem of my tank top and teased the flesh underneath. I moaned and kicked the door shut behind us.

He slid the tank top over my head and tossed it across the room. Then he ran his hand over my bottom and squeezed before sliding them lower and gripping my thighs as he lifted me. I happily wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck kissing him passionately.

"What about Alice and Garrett?" I asked in a stupid moment of mental clarity between kisses.

"Well, I hope ya ain't suggesting we invite em in ta participate." He chuckled.

"No, I mean, what if I lose control again and affect them like we did yesterday morning with the others?" he bit the bite mark on my shoulder and I lost my train of thought as I cried out in pleasure.

"They'll either enjoy it or get lost I don't really fuckin' care right now. All I want is you, baby." He panted when his mouth released me.

He laid me on the bed and quickly undressed my bottom half. He kicked his own boots off before crawling back on the bed to hover over me. I grabbed ahold of his black tee shirt and ripped it in two.

He growled and kissed me grinding himself against me. "Why the hell do you still have pants on?" I asked tearing my mouth away from his.

"I don't really know." He laughed as I reached between us and jerked the button off. "Oh wait, that's why."

"What's why? I pulled him down to kiss him and slipped my hand inside his jeans wrapping my fingers around him. he wasn't wearing any underwear. I smiled against his lips.

"Because I think it's sexy as fuck when ya rip em' off me." he breathed against my skin.

"Hey, stop that shit!" Garrett banged on the door.

"Go away, cock blocker!" I yelled back at him.

"Look, I'd be happy ta listen ta ya moan and groan all night, but I don't think the new visitors that have just arrived would like it much." He called back through the door. "Get ya clothes back on fire cracker and get out here!"

I growled loudly at him. "Can I just kill him?" I asked Jasper as he got off of me and got a change of clothes. I just put the ones I'd been wearing back on, but skipped the boots and just padded out bare foot.

"Nah," Jasper smiled and winked at me. "He's a pain in the ass, but we need him darlin'." _Damn!_I thought as we went out to meet who ever had arrived.

I saw Peter first and threw my arms around him. He laughed and hugged me back. "Hells Bells, we were only gone for a day."

I spotted Charlotte next. I released Peter then Charlotte and I grabbed each other. I hugged her a little too hard in my happiness to see her. She made a squeak noise. "Oh I'm sorry little momma! I'm just so happy you're home! I was so worried about you!"

"We're fine, baby girl." She smiled at me and then looked me up and down. "I love this look on ya!" we both laughed as Alice groaned from the stairs. She hadn't liked my sudden change in taste of clothes. Charlotte ignored her and held a paper sack out to me. "We got our share of friends and still had time ta get ya a present."

I peaked in the bag. They'd stopped somewhere and got me lots of fruit flavored hard candies. I squealed like a little girl before I noticed the three vampires standing near the front door.

There were two men and a woman. The woman was very pretty with a round face, a plump but not overly chunky tall body, and her skin was a beautiful ebony color that appeared to have a faint glow to it. Her hair hung in dark brown wild spiral curls around her face with wide red eyes and a full pouty mouth. She looked like she'd been turned in her mid-twenties.

The man standing closest to her was about the same height as she was tall, but shorter than Jasper. He too, had red eyes. He was slender, with short dark blond hair and a mustache, his skin a pale ivory. He looked like he'd been in his late teens or early twenties when he was turned.

The last man was tall, slender, with straight black hair hanging loose almost to his shoulders. He made me uncomfortable. While the other new comers appraised their surroundings he stared at me, His red eyes boring into me like he was trying to will something out of me.

I wasn't exactly comfortable with the other two vampires, simply because they were unknown to me so far. But this guy was giving me the creeps. Something inside me was screaming at me not to trust him.

He made a movement like he was going to move closer to me and I growled.

"Alistair, please don't move too close yet." Peter said grabbing ahold of my arm and pulling me further away from our guests. "The little bit's only been up and about for a few days. She's not goin' ta react well when unfamiliar vampires get too close."

Alistair cocked his head to the side studying me. "She looks tame enough." He took a step closer. "Tell me, love, how are you enjoying the new life." he had British sounding accent.

He stepped to close and smiled at me. I had no control for a moment. I barred my teeth at him and snarled at him. He chuckled; "Now, love, is that any way to treat a guest?" he extended his hand out to me waiting for me to shake it. "My name is Alistair. What might your name be pretty girl, or do you wish to go by Bella?"

Before I could react I heard a deafening roar behind me, I glanced back to see Garrett holding Jasper back. "Jasper, she's fine! The girl knows how to defend herself and he's only introducing his self. Alistair, please get away from the girl now, before either she or the Major rip ya a new one!" Garrett yelled.

"Aw, I see the little one has a mate. What a pity." Alistair stepped away from me but still looked me up and down. "You would have been a nice prize."

Jasper roared again. "I'm no one's prize. And if you keep looking at me like that I'll show you the error of your cocky ass ways by taking both of your eyes out of you head and throwing them in the fire place." I was surprised I wasn't yelling at him. It came out low and calm.

"You think you could take me little one." he chuckled, the sound slid across my skin making me think of slime.

I could still hear Jasper struggling against Garrett's hold behind me. But I didn't dare take my eyes off the monster in front of me. "Jasper, settle down!" he stopped thrashing around, but he continued to growl at Alistair. "Thank you, baby." I cooed back at him.

Alistair smirked at me, and raised his eye brows at me. "How interesting. A tiny new born has the legendary Major by the balls. You must be a fair shag."

"Alistair! I didn't bring ya here ta insult my family! I asked ya here ta help us, but if ya can't behave yourself, I'd prefer ya ta leave now!" Peter bellowed at him. I just continued to stare him down. I didn't know what I was going to do if he continued goading me on, but every muscle in my body was tense and ready to spring the minute I made a decision.

"I said I'd help and be done with our debt. But I answer to no one." he glared at Peter. "What's the matter anyway? Can she not take care of herself? Is that it, little one, you're incapable of taking care of your own matters?"

"Wanna find out?" my voice was still low and calm. He smirked at me again and shook his head yes. "Let's take this outside. Esme wouldn't like for me to break her house." Alistair chuckled and walked out the front door.

"Bella, what are ya doin'?" Jasper asked turning me to look at him the minute Garrett released him.

"The guy gives me the creeps. He's cocky, and you said I needed to start training. What better way to start then to see how I fair against another vampire that's not going to go easy on me because he's part of the family." Really, I just wanted to beat that fucker's ass for being a douche bag. Plus, I suspected that I just wanted to work off some of my pent up stress, and sexual frustration from being interrupted out on the guy. "You guys will be right here if I start to lose. You can tear him apart if he goes too far with it." I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a quick peck.

I stopped on my way out the door to introduce myself to the other two new vampires. Her name was Mary, and she looked very amused at the whole situation. Her companions name was Randall. He looked worried that they might have bitten off more than they could chew by coming here.

She tugged him outside to watch the show with the others. "Alistair, I wished ya'd reconsider this. She's more than she looks." Peter pleaded with the asshole.

"I've handled my share of newborns before Peter. I'm sure I can handle this little girl." He chuckled until without warning I doubled up my fist and hit him in the jaw. "Dirty pool little one . I like it." he smiled wickedly at me for a second before he lurched forward trying to get his arms around me.

But I was quicker than he was for the moment, and I'd had a little practice playing this game with Emmett. I side stepped him and hit him again in the face. He growled at me. He didn't seem to like being made a fool of by a woman.

I didn't attack again. He'd be ready for that. I waited for him to come for me. When he lurched again I jumped up and over him, planting my foot in his back and kicking back making him continue forward into a small tree.

Jasper, Peter, and Garrett all laughed at him. I winked at Jasper and he blew me a kiss. Silly old man, I could take care of myself.

Alistair took advantage of my momentary distraction and leaped at me, I moved just a second too slow and he grabbed ahold of my arm spinning me back around to face him as he got his arms around me pinning mine to my sides.

I heard Jasper growl again. "Just wait brother. Let's see what the little bit can do before we go rushin' in." Peter told him.

"Now little one, what do I get for winning?" Alistair's sneering smile made me want to rip his freaking face off. "How about a snog?" he leaned his face towards mine.

Oh hell no!I reared my head back and flung it forward catching him in the nose with my forehead. He let go and I marveled at the spider web of cracks I'd caused on this face. I wondered if mine looked the same. Sure enough I could feel them as they began to nit back together. It didn't quite hurt, but it was by no means a pleasant feeling.

He roared at me. I smirked at him. The cracks on his own face were healing quickly. He charged me and I threw up my shield. I laughed as he hit it and fell back on his ass looking confused. He snarled and beat against the invisible barrier between us.

I wondered what would happen if I managed to shrink the shield around him. I stared at him and imagined the shield as a small dome over him. I concentrated hard and willed it to shrink. I knew the minute it started to put pressure on him. His whole body went stiff as he tried to fight his way out. I heard the crunching noise as I shrank it more and it began to crush him.

"Bella, what are ya doin' ta him baby?" Jasper asked in awe.

I wanted to answer, but the minute I lost concentration I started to lose control of my hold on the shield and I felt it loosen on him. I touched the fire inside me and pushed it into him just as I lost control of the shield altogether. He fell to the ground screaming and clawing at his own skin trying to put out the invisible flames.

The beast inside me laughed. I flinched. I was shocked at myself. I was enjoying torturing this irritating man. I pulled back and staggered away from him. I looked back at the others with wide eyes. I was scared of what they'd think of me now.

Peter and Charlotte stood looking proud. Garrett was smiling in amusement. Alice had her eyes closed so she wouldn't see. Mary was just as amused as Garrett. Randall didn't seem to have an opinion on the matter. Then there was Jasper.

My mate's expression was blank. I had thrown my shield up so he couldn't feel what I was feeling. The down side to that is that I couldn't feel his emotions now either. We just stood staring at each other.

Alistair was recovering quickly, but he didn't attack me again. He looked well and truly scared. I turned away from Jasper's intense gaze to address him. "If you're here to help, then help! Don't be a pain in my ass! Do not talk to me again if you're going to try and make a pass at me. And if you ever try and touch me again I'll keep whatever parts I rip off you. No one touches me but my mate!" he gave a quick nod. "If you're going to leave, then leave! But if you even consider betraying us to the Volturi and Maria I'll kill you slowly. I'll take years, decades if I don't get bored with you first."

"Oh, I do like her." I heard Mary say with a throaty chuckle.

"Hey Major, maybe ya should take the little bit out for a bite." Peter's amused voice chirped in. I didn't take my eyes off Alistair until Garrett moved forward to start looking over the fading injury to his face.

Jasper took me by the hand and lead me out into the woods. We kept going. He led me all the way to the base of the mountains on the other side of the woods. I didn't say anything the whole way. I was scared of what he thought of me now. He'd left a life full of the cruelty I'd just dealt out to Alistair. I should have known better than to take it that far.

His silence was making me nervous. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore. "Jasper I…"

He slammed me up against a large boulder and planted a knee weakening kiss on my lips. "You are the sexiest fuckin' creature on this earth." He panted and stripped me down quickly. His shirt was gone; he left his pants on but shimmied them down just enough to do what he wanted.

He picked me up wrapping my legs around his waist as he drove into me so hard that I felt the rocks behind us crack. He reached up roughly and wrapped his hand with my hair and pulled my head back to his for a kiss full of teeth and tongue.

Our love making was rough and quick, but it was the most amazing so far. I dropped my shield to him as we climaxed so that I could feel his pleasure and he mine. His pleasure wasn't all I felt. He was proud of me, he was admiring me.

"You don't think I'm a monster?" I asked at we dropped to the forest floor in a very satisfied but still lusty little heap.

"Of course not! Why would ya even think that?" he asked running his fingers through my hair.

"Well you ran from Maria's coven because of shit like that." I felt like a monster again.

"Darlin' I left Maria's coven because I no longer had a taste for executin' those who'd come ta trust me. But if I'm bein' honest with myself I didn't hate everything that happened while I was with that coven. I still enjoy a good fight. I loved watchin' my mate wipe the floor with that asshole. And I'm lovin' the fuck outta the fact that ya seem ta be enjoyin' the rough stuff just as much as me." he kissed me and bit down on my bottom lip. No hard enough to break the skin but just enough for it to hurt a little. I wasn't going to lie, it turned me on. "I love ya." He crawled over me and began making love to me again.

"I love you too, so much. And I love everything you do to me." I moaned and raked my nails down his back.

He growled and kissed me. "We were made for each other baby." He whispered as I fell into a fog of ecstasy.

When we were done he took me to hunt a bear. He said I was more talented than Emmett when it came to taking the huge creature down. He promised to come back and collect the fur fore me so I could show my big brother my catch.

Alice was entertaining our guests when we arrived back at the house . Peter was getting Alistair settled in the attic. Turns out he wasn't really a people person and didn't want to be around the rest of us. Charlotte said that his little dominance display with me had been very out of character for him, and if he hadn't owed Peter for saving his ass once, and admired Carlisle so much he probably wouldn't have come to help. She said I just seemed to bring out the hidden parts of people.

Chapter 31

I'm so sorry this took so long to upload my beta got it back to me last week and I've just been sitting on it. I promise get the next couple of chapters up quickly. I've just had so much going on. I already have the next chapter back from her and I'll upload soon. She already has the next chapter after that as well. I think my next few chapters are going to have to be done with a beta though; she's got a lot going on. Also I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write this week, I have lots of doc appointments for my kid this week but I will try. Please comment and review.


	32. Chapter 33

Hey guys I'm sorry I've been away for so long I've just had a lot to deal with lately with doctor stuff but I'm getting back into writing and I'll have new chapters up very soon. I just didn't want anyone to think I abandoned my story. New chapters will be up by next week at the latest.


	33. Chapter 34

_Chapter 32 _

_Sorry this took so long guys. _

_This one was partially beta'ed by ladyluck25_

_**Bella's POV**_

The next morning was just as eventful as the previous day. Edward, Jacob, and Paul returned with their own guests. The three Denali sisters and their other clan members Eleazar and Carmen, and to my great amusement, my wolves were mated to two of the vampire sisters.

"Hey Bells!" Jacob and Paul both got out of the car and hugged me. A strawberry blond goddess grabbed me by the arm and growled at me as she jerked me away from my brothers.

I grabbed ahold of the hand she had on my arm and threw her across the yard. A taller blond grabbed me and I felt a strange tingling sensation over my skin, or more over the shield I seemed to have over my skin. I grabbed her just like I had her sister to her great shock and tossed her into her sister and roared at them. I was crouched in front of Jacob and Paul making sure the two women weren't planning to hurt them.

"How did you do that?" the taller one asked as she helped her sister to her feet.

"Get away from my mate!" The smaller one yelled.

I stood up realizing what was going on and smiled. "Which one is your mate?" I was giddy with the news.

"Me." Jacob announced proudly and stepped around me to comfort his angry little vampire. "Don't worry beautiful, she's my little sister." the vampire calmed quickly at his words and offered me an apology.

"Paul is mine." I turned to see the third sister standing next to Paul, who looked down at the ground.

Dumb ass was probably having trouble accepting his mate was a vampire. "Chin up jack ass." I chuckled at him. "You caught yourself a stunning woman." I gave me a small smile. His mate giggled.

"Yeah I know." He reached over shyly and took her hand.

I started to give him a hard time but the tallest of the sisters was back in front of me. "Hi I'm Kate. How did you do that? No one has ever been able to withstand my power." She was grinning.

"I'm Bella." I shook her hand and I felt the tingle again.

"Kate!" Edward scolded her. "That's not nice!"

"What is she? Why can't she feel it?" She was still smiling and staring fascinated at me.

"Hey, Kate." Jasper greeted her and snaked his hand around my waist.

"Hi Jaz." She didn't even look at him she was still staring at me.

"She's a shield Kate, physical and mental." Eleazar said with a laugh. He walked over to me and extended his hand to me introducing his self. I took it and his smile grew. "She's also has the illusion of pain as Jane does. However if I'm not mistaken young Bella can also cause pleasure with the flip of the switch. You, my dear, are quite a find. How is your control of your gifts?"

"She's quite controlled." Jasper answered for me. "She's used several of her abilities already, but she just started really experimentin' with her shield yesterday. She almost crushed Alistair with in the walls of her shield; she can cause a small barrier so far. And she can block me at will; she's been able ta completely block Edward even when she was human. And she partially blocks Alice, unintentionally. Now it appears she can block Kate as well."

"And what can Kate do?" Garrett asked with his eyes glued to Kate.

Kate smiled at him. "Wanna find out big boy?" she held her hand out to him. "Watch this Bella." She winked at me.

Garrett reached up to touch her hand with his own and I heard the electrical snapping that you heard with a taser gun. Garrett's body went ridged for a moment and when she pulled her hand away he sank to his knees. He smiled up at her. "You are an amazing woman."

She smiled back at him and then grabbed him by the front of his shirt pulling him to her for a kiss. "Mine!" she declared as they pulled away from each other.

"Damn straight!" Garrett was up and had her wrapped up in his arms kissing her again.

"Well, hot damn!" Peter bellowed, "Eleazar, are ya sure she's not a mate magnet? The ones who she gets along with seem ta find mates awfully fast after they meet her." he laughed.

"I think that's just a coincidence my friend." Eleazar chuckled and brought his mate to meet me.

The Denali sisters and I became quick friends. They began helping the guys train me. It was good to have so many different styles of fighting to practice with. Kate began helping em to develop my shield with a little more control, and using it to make a tight barrier over others the way it seemed to be over my own body, also expanding my mental shield to guard others as well. She was teaching me to keep my concentration of my shield on the back burner in my mind so I didn't collapse when I had to concentrate on something else.

Carlisle and Esme got back a few days later; they brought with them the Egyptian coven. Their leader Amun, a man who looked like he'd been turned in his late thirty's that was just a few inches taller than me with short black hair and olive toned skin, was very standoffish. He spoke very little outside of his own coven. Carlisle said that Amun refused to get involved if the Volturi were coming for us. But he conceded when his coven member Benjamin, a very young looking vampire with the blackest hair I'd ever seen, and the same olive pallor complexion as the others in his coven, had agreed to come back with Carlisle and help even though he'd just met him.

I liked Benjamin. He was sweet and playful. He fit in just fine with the wolves and Cullens. When I asked him why he'd come back with Carlisle when he didn't even know us, he simply said, "It is the right thing to do." He was also very fascinating. He was what Eleazar called an Elemental. He could control earth, air, fire and water, molding them and manipulating them to his will.

Amun's mate Kebi was shorter than Alice and had long curly black hair. She was very pretty, but she spoke to no one, not even her own coven. Amun commanded her around and she was never any further from him than his shadow at any given time. I wondered if they were really mates or if he was forcing her to stay with him. I asked Charlotte to look at them and she said they were mates. I left it alone, if she was okay with her mate ruling over her that was her deal. I had enough on my plate without pilling hers on.

Benjamin's mate Tia was more like him. She was kind and talkative. I got the impression Amun didn't let them out much more than to feed. She was quite beautiful and had long black hair that hung in heavy waves. She had a very beautiful singing voice, which she entertained us with often.

Emmett and Rosalie arrived back the day after Carlisle and Esme. They brought with them the Irish coven. They were a much more pleasant lot. Their leader Siobhan was a very tall woman, easily towering over many of the men in the house. She had long thick black hair and a muscular body, but she carried it so well that she owned it making it utterly feminine. Eleazar explained to me that Siobhan was by far the strongest vampire he'd ever come into contact with. I took great joy in watching her grapple with Emmett and beat him every time. He kept insisting that he could beat her eventually. He also got moody when Jasper showed him my bear skin. Emmett liked being the biggest and strongest. Having all the women in the house beating him was killing his ego.

Siobhan's mate Liam was tall and lean with short but shaggy dark brown hair and a little stubble. He enjoyed talking about wars with Garrett, who by the way fought in every war he could. Other than that, Liam was quite but nice, unless you got too close to his mate then he became very possessive. It seemed to be a running vampire trait.

Their last coven member was Maggie. She was even shorter than Kebi, thin with bouncy red curls just past her shoulders. Maggie was fairly quiet, but became very talkative when she caught some one lying. She had the ability to sense lies. She caught Amun several times telling Benjamin and Tia little lies to try and convince them to leave with him instead of fighting. When he finally got tired of her interference and grabbed her by the throat it caused a fight between Liam, Amun, and surprisingly Seth.

It seemed that cupid was working overtime with our strange group. Seth announced that Maggie was his mate, when she said he was telling the truth, no one questioned it. Siobhan didn't seem happy about it, but she didn't interfere. Their whole coven seemed to rely on Maggie's gift w ith all situations involving the trustworthiness of others.

Most of the wolves had been quite alright with Jacob, Paul, and Seth's announcement of their mates. Jacob's father officially disowned him with their tribe. Several of the other wolves' parents had been as equally unhappy as Billy had, so Esme had to go out and purchase several travel trailers to house them all. On top of that, with the increase of vampires in the area many more of the tribe turned. Now there were several girls in the pack and almost every male between the ages of fifteen and twenty five on the reservation. They were now almost thirty strong. I felt bad for them. We were causing such havoc in their lives.

Most of them seemed okay with it, and no one really caused any waves. Those who weren't really happy about working with vampires kept their mouths shut and followed their alpha's orders. When jasper and Peter weren't working with me on my fighting skills, they were working with the wolves, making sure they were all well trained to take on the newborns that Maria would bring with her.

Alistair kept to the attic and spoke only to Carlisle. He seemed to get more and more agitated with the growing number of our group. Edward said that Alistair was thinking of running before Maria and the Volturi arrived. I wished he would, his bad mood was setting Jasper on edge.

_**Jasper's POV**_

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The others who joined us weren't racked with fear at our pending battle. They were all quite happy to help in training Bella and the wolves to prepare them. I hated it every time one of them touched her, but I held it together. She was quite talented.

The only one she had trouble defeating was Siobhan. The woman was so strong that she might be able to take down a small group of newborns on her own if she had to. I worried several times that she'd hurt my mate, but she pulled back at the right moments and gave Bella great direction.

Peter and I hadn't spared with her yet though. I just couldn't bring myself to put my hands on my mate in anything other than love. Asking me to train the way we'd done the new borns back in Maria's camp was just too much for me. As for Peter, he said he was too afraid of hurting his little bit.

Emmett and Charlotte were all but useless when it came to training for the most part. Once Emmett and Bella had learned where the other was ticklish they turned into children. Bella wouldn't use all her strength when fighting Charlotte.

Charlotte tried her best to help where she could but having to help train a girl she looked at as a daughter was just a little too close to being back in Maria's camp and she became very upset. Now she just stood on the sidelines and instructed. As long as she didn't have to do any actual fighting until we were forced to she kept her fears in check.

The only one that really seemed to upset the balance of emotions floating around me was Alistair in the attic. He never came out to talk to anyone, aside from Carlisle. He left long enough to hunt and then went back to his brooding. His mood was so foul and so strong almost all the time that when I wasn't surrounded by the others to block out his mood with their own, I would grow just as agitated as him. I considered altering his mood, but Carlisle insisted that, that would be a violation. He was right, and I didn't want to force anyone to stay against their will. But I wished like hell the bastard would just go.

I was picking up strands of jealousy and anger from Amun, but his emotions weren't very strong. His mate confused me very much; I got no emotions from her. It wasn't like Bella's shield where I couldn't sense them. It was more like a buzzing along my skin when I concentrated on her, like there were emotions there but they weren't coming through on the right frequency. When I asked Eleazar about it, hoping maybe we had another shield in our group, he was disturbed as well. He couldn't tell if the woman had a talent or not. When he concentrated on her he got the same slight buzzing sensation.

When we tried to talk to Amun about it, he became angry and decided to keep himself and his mate in the woods out of the range of our gifts, but refused to leave completely without Benjamin and Tia. I had bad news for him there. I'd already felt the emotions of his younger coven members. They were tired of him, and there would be no love lost if Amun was lost in the battle. Edward had also already heard it in them. They planned to either stay with Carlisle or go off on their own. The only reason they hadn't said so out loud yet was because they were afraid Amun would betray all our plans to the Volturi. Carlisle told us to leave Amun be and not question him any more about his mate. It was his secret to keep if he wished.

Alice had been hard at work preparing the wedding; every woman in the house was excited and helpful. And they all thought it was amusing that Bella couldn't give a damn about any of the preparations. She just wanted to be married; she didn't care what it all looked like.

Speaking of which I needed to talk to Emmett soon about some of the wedding presents I'd arranged for my sweet mate.

"Hey brother!" I patted my big little brother on the back. "Why don't ya take a run with me and Peter and Garrett?"

"Sure." he smiled. He was perpetually cheerful ya had to love him.

We kissed our mates goodbye and headed into the woods for a run. Once we were far enough out to where no one could hear us but I could still feel them if they began to come closer, and staying close enough to not worry Bella. I'd learned quickly that she became very agitated with the others if I wasn't near.

"So did ya get the paper work done?" I asked Emmett.

"Yeah here." He pulled a menial folder from under his shirt. I wondered how he'd gotten it there without Rose noticing. "You just have to sing where the little tabs are and I'll mail it over tomorrow. I also already put in your order. But you remember some of this is for Rose to."

He turned around and I signed the contracts on his back. "Not a problem brother, do you think they'll enjoy it?"

"Ya know little bit will." Peter laughed.

"I'm sure the hell cat and the fire cracker will be ecstatic." Garrett said with a grin. "Now I just have ta figure out what the hell ta get Katie."

"How about you ask her to marry you before you go getting her an engagement gift." Emmett suggested. "If Kate thinks you're trying to plan out her future without discussing it with her you'll most likely lose your balls." We all laughed.

"Look what I got!" Peter pulled a small black box out of his back pocket. It held a small platinum ring with a large chocolate diamond in the middle surrounded by many smaller white diamonds. "Do you think she'll like it Major?"

"It looks like her taste. But what the hell do I know I didn't even get my mate a diamond. Do you think I should?" I was getting nervous now. She'd said she loved my mother's ring but what if she wanted something more?

"Bells don't care about any of that shit!" Emmett chuckled. "She'd be happy with a ride to the justice of the peace. Alice is the one pushing for a wedding. Can't you see how irritated she gets whenever one of them ask her about any of the preparations?" he was right. Over the last two weeks she'd gotten very uneasy.

When I asked her about it she'd said it was just due to lack of sex. Granted we hadn't had a moment alone with all that was happening but I knew there was more to it than that. I was a little afraid she was getting cold feet. Yesterday she'd yelled at Alice and told her if she mentioned any wedding stuff to her again she'd tear everything down.

Alice had admittedly gone overboard. The wedding was in two days and the entire house was already decorated. She'd fitted all the wolves for suits, and ordered more food than even the pack could eat. She wouldn't stray from her plans at all. I'd gotten her to agree to let me handle the cake by threatening to demolish the one she would order.

"Can I marry you?" Emmett asked pulling my out of my thoughts.

Garrett and Peter burst out laughing. "Um sorry Em, but I'm kinda already marryin' Bella. But thanks for asking."

"I mean can I officiate you ass whole!" he barked at me but couldn't contain his laughter.

"I think they need a preacher for that buddy." Garrett told him.

"I can get ordained over the internet. Just think I could be the official merrier or whatever you call it to the vampires!" he was ridiculous.

"Why don't ya run it by Bella, I'm sure that piece of planning she'd love." I told him. She would probably jump at the chance to put a kink in Alice's little circus right now.

"What ya doin' for a honeymoon?" Peter asked as we started back to the house. I could feel Bella getting agitated.

"I'll probably just take her over ta the cabin for a night or two. We ain't got time for much more until after we're clear of this mess." We only had two and a half weeks until we had to fight. "Um, I guess I should tell ya. Bella and I ain't movin' on with you guys after this is over Emmett."

He stopped in his tracks and grabbed my shoulder making me look at him. "What are you talking about where are you guys going?" he was feeling angry and abandoned.

"Well I thought I'd take Bella down ta Texas and we'd stay in my family home for a bit. I'm askin' Peter and Charlotte ta come with us." I hated that this was hurting my brother. Esme, Rose and Carlisle would be just as bad. I was pretty sure Edward wouldn't care.

We'd come a little ways in our relationship. I was teaching him to fight along with the others. We even had moments of laughter pass between us. But I was still pretty sure he could take me being there or leave it.

"Ya know we're in!" Peter smiled and clapped me on the back. "Charlotte ain't letting the little bit get away from her again."

"You don't want us to come with you?" Emmett asked sounding like a child whose best friend was moving away.

"Of course I do Emmett. But I'm not goin' ta ask ya ta make a choice between us and our parents. Me and Bella talked about you and Rose comin' with us. But I just can't do it. If you guys want ta come ya know we'd welcome ya with open arms, but Alice and Esme are planning on New York after we leave Forks, and Bella and I are planning on Texas."

"I'm going with you!" he declared.

"Don't ya think ya should ask the hellcat before ya start makin' plans?" Garrett asked with a smirk.

"Nope! I follow her lead on everything; she can give me my way on this. I'm not going anywhere without my little sister. And I'm damn sure not staying with Edward when I could have the chance to stay with Jasper." He held his head high when he said it but I could feel the worry over what Rosalie would say about this.

"Well this should be fun!" Peter clapped his hands together and laughed. "I wonder if she'll leave your balls in tact or take em' off and keep em' in her jewelry box!" we all laughed; if Emmett were human he'd be sweating bullets.

"You're welcome ta ask her whenever you're ready brother. The others will have ta find out about our plans sooner or later." I patted him on the back and we began walking again. "Good luck."

"Yeah, okay. I'll just go talk to her about that." his voice cracked a little.

We all stood in the yard and watched in amusement as my big little brother marched into the house to have his ass handed to him. It didn't take long to see how it was going.

"Texas!" Rosalie's voice screeched from upstairs. "Texas! Emmett McCarty Cullen did you really just tell me we're moving to Texas?"

His replay was so low we couldn't make it out. "Do you have any idea what the humidity in Texas will do to my hair?" we heard a loud bang and Emmett came running out of the house full speed like his ass was on fire darting into the woods. "Get back here!" Rose came smiling at her husband's retreating frightened back.

"Why ya got ta be so mean ta my brother like that Rose?" I laughed at her. She wasn't the least bit mad at Emmett. She was just having some fun with him.

"Gotta keep him on his toes." She chuckled. "Peter will you go get him and tell him I'm not really mad?" Peter left smiling. "So we're heading to Texas huh? The sun will be nice. Maybe we can take a short detour first though?"

"Where to little sister?" I know she was going to get her way no matter where it was.

"We could take Bella to the island for a couple of weeks. She would love swimming in the ocean! And then we could head down to Texas. I know that house of yours needs to be cleaned up, no one's been in there in years. We could hire someone to take care of it and take a little vacation!" she put her hands together in a begging motion.

"I'll see what Bella says." I promised her. She squealed in delight. "Speaking of which where is my little trouble maker?"

"Oh she's in side. I think she's talking with Carlisle and Eleazar. They're telling her about the Volturi guard and their abilities." Our father had taken it as his duty to teach Bella about our attackers. "By the way, I saw the papers earlier." Damn Emmett. "You shouldn't have left it to him. he's not good at sneaky. But don't worry it's perfect!" she whispered.

I smiled at her as I left in search of Bella.

**Chapter 32**

**I hope you guys enjoyed please comment and review. I'm already working on the next chapter and will have it up a.s.a.p. I'm working beta-less again so I'm having a little trouble, but I'm doing my best. Lots of excitement surprises and fun are coming your way soonish. **


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